Chance of a Lifetime
by brunettebaby713
Summary: Morgan Barlow gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she wins a contest to travel with her favorite superstar John Cena for a whole month. This is the story of what happens to Morgan and John's lives as a result.
1. Chance of a Lifetime

**A/N:** I of course do not own anyone in the WWE or anyone else in this story except for Morgan and any additional OC's I might add later on. Please don't sue me, you won't get anything of value.

**Chance of a Lifetime**

**Main Characters:**

**Morgan Elizabeth Barlow- **A 26 y/o, 3rd year law student about to graduate from Boston University School of Law in Boston MA. 5 foot 6 and about 135 pounds, she has an average figure. She has shoulder length brown hair and blue-grey eyes. Morgan grew up in Boston and had dreams of attending BU Law School since the age of 16. She excelled in school, graduating from Boston College with a 4.0 and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and double minors in legal studies and political science.

**John Felix Anthony Cena- **The 32 y/o WWE Superstar and current WWE Champion wrestles on Monday Night Raw. He is from West Newbury, Massachusetts about an hour north of Boston where his family still resides. He is 6 foot 1 and approximately 240 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Cena graduated from Springfield College with a degree in Exercise Physiology and pursued bodybuilding before becoming a professional wrestler.

**Chapter One- The Chance of a Lifetime**

_**June 1**__**st**__**, 2009**_

Morgan woke up at 6am like it was any other Monday morning but this morning was different, she could feel it. Today, she would patiently wait for her final grades to be posted. She knew she had done well in all her classes at BU and that her admission to the Bar Association of Massachusetts depended on them. She slowly rose from the bed in her small one bedroom apartment in Harrison Court and headed for her morning shower. After a steaming hot shower and two cups of coffee she set out for the campus' law library to do some web surfing until her professors had posted the grades.

An hour later, she sat at a small coffee shop sipping a frappe and surfing the net for wrestling news. Morgan had always been a closet wrestling fan and as long as it was possible, she watched every edition of Monday Night Raw as well as every pay per view. She even had tickets to Monday Night Raw at the arena that night in Boston. Word was buzzing that the WWE was picking an audience member at random to win a month on the road with the WWE champion, John Cena and Morgan was determined not to pass up the chance to meet her favorite wrestler. She glanced at the clock and realized it was almost 10 so she packed up her laptop and headed out towards the campus.

_**Three hours later… **_

"Hey it's Kim Bradford, I'm not here right now so leave me a message and I'll get back to you"

Morgan sighed… "Hey Kimmy its Morgan, you're never home when I call, just wanted to see how my only sister was doing. How's the hubby? I got my final grades today, I won't keep you in suspense, I got a 4.0 final average! I'll keep ya up to date on the law firm search girl. Call me back, love ya!"

Morgan put the phone back on its cradle and made her way to her small kitchen to find some lunch. When she reached the fridge, she saw her ticket to Monday Night Raw under the magnet and felt giddy inside at the idea of possibly meeting the wrestlers that very night.

_It's only 1 in the afternoon, what in the world am I going to do for next six hours before I have to get ready and head to the arena? _Morgan thought to herself about what she could do and had a great idea. She pulled out her art supplies and a large poster board and began creating a poster for the show. _I just hope they let me bring it in…_ About an hour and a half later she had finished her poster and went back to finding something to eat.

_**Seven pm- Two hours to Raw**_

"Oh shit! I have to get ready! It's almost time to go." Morgan jumped up from her spot on the couch where she had been curled up reading one of her favorite novels when she realized what time it was. She went to her closet and pulled out a faded pair of low-cut jeans with gems on the pocket seams and a women's John Cena HLR tank top. She pulled on her clothes, brushed her dark hair and pulled it into a short ponytail, threw on her favorite pair of sneakers and quickly did her makeup. Morgan was never one for makeup that much, her sister was only two years older than her and after their parents had died, neither of them really cared about makeup enough to teach each other. She swiped on some light blue eye shadow to match her eyes and a little bit of mascara. Next, she applied a hint of bronzer to her cheeks and some sheer pink lip gloss. Satisfied with her appearance in the mirror she grabbed her ticket, purse and keys, locked her door and headed out.

She reached the arena just as they were beginning to admit people inside. Morgan fell into step with the rest of the people in the line who already had tickets and began the slow march towards the door. When she reached the front of the line she handed her ticket to the worker.

"Here's your ticket stub, make sure you keep it handy, the number on your ticket is what will be used to determine the winner of tonight's contest. May I see your purse and your sign please?"

Morgan handed over her purse for the X-ray machinist and showed the security guards her sign she had made. They approved the sign, handed her back her purse, stamped her hand and let her pass through the gate. The arena was huge, much bigger than what she had expected. She had lived in Boston her whole life and yet she had never been here before. She gasped as she realized just how large it actually was. A security guard was passing by and she stopped him to ask for directions to her seat. He walked to the front of the arena right next to the announcer's table to her front row seats; she thanked him and took her seat.

_**9pm Monday Night Raw**_

Jerry "The King" Lawler opened the broadcast live on USA network and the pyrotechnics caught Morgan very off guard. _"Wow, they're a lot louder in person" she thought. _"Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole here welcoming you to Monday Night Raw. We have a special treat for one special person in the audience tonight. Before the end of the show, Mr. McMahon will be announcing the winner of this month's 'Hometown Superstar' contest. Tonight, one lucky Boston audience member will be the winner of one month on the road with John Cena!"

"That's right King, it's gonna be a great show tonight, we have a Diva's Championship match between Maryse and Mickie James as well as an awesome main event. John Cena will be teaming up with two superstars of his choosing and taking on Legacy tonight in a 6 man tag team match that's sure to whet the appetite of our viewers in time for Summer Slam." Michael Cole continued on about what the show had in store for the audience, meanwhile, Morgan was transfixed by the grandeur of the whole night. She could hardly believe she was even here, after all these years of watching wrestling she was finally at a live show. Suddenly, she heard the unmistakable music of her favorite superstar blaring through the speakers and saw the video on the titantron.

"_You can't see me my time is now…" _ "Here comes Cena, let's hear what he has to say this week Cole."

John reached the ring and asked for a microphone. He scanned the audience and caught the blue eyes of a woman in the front row holding up a sign that read 'Cena is my hero' dressed in faded blue jeans, a Red Sox hat and John's HLR woman's tank top. He looked at her, smiled and when she smiled back he tossed his hat towards her and she caught it. She took off the Red Sox hat, placed it in her purse and put his on her head smiling brightly and mouthed a 'thanks' back to him.

John took the mic from Lillian Garcia and started the show. "Hey Boston! Man it's good to be home. So, as you all know by now, tonight, Vince McMahon is throwing one of you into the fray that is the WWE, specifically the fray that is my day to day life. I have to say, when I heard about this idea I was sure Vince was insane but the more I thought about it, the more of a great idea I thought it would be. That being said, I can't wait to see who my road-mate will be for the next month but I got some business to handle tonight. So I thought, hey it's Boston, you guys are smart, why don't you pick my tag team partners for tonight's 6 man tag match. It's all set up and to vote, you just text the name of the tag team you want to MNR601. We've got three choices tonight, first up is the tag team of JTG and Shad Gaspard, aka Cryme Tyme! The second choice they gave you guys is a team of Batista and Chris Jericho, and last but not least, the third tag team choice is D-Generation X!... So vote quickly, voting begins now and ends at 10:00pm that's one hour people. My fate is in your hands… so get voting and let's have an awesome show!"

_**Ten-thirty pm. **_

Jerry Lawler was about to announce the winning tag team from the night's vote and Morgan hoped it was DX. She had voted the maximum number of times allowed, which in this instance was five, and she hoped everyone else had voted for DX too.

"So King, do we have a winning tag team for our main event or what?" asked Michael Cole. "Yes we do" replied King, "the winning tag team is…" a countdown appeared on the titantron and the audience joined in the count. "FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE…" Suddenly the arena was bathed in a green glow and Morgan's smile grew exponentially. "Break it down…" DX's music filled the arena and the audience went ballistic. They made their way to ring and waited for Cena to arrive as well. Once they had all made it to the ring, DX began their usual promo this time with Cena in tow.

"Are you ready?" said Triple H. "No, Boston, I said... ARE YOU READY!?" The audience screamed at the tops of their lungs. Morgan's eyes were locked on John as he pumped up the crowd. Shawn took the mic from Triple H, "then for the thousands in attendance and the millions watching at home…" Triple H took back the mic, "let's get ready to SUCK IT!" This time, instead of Shawn taking the mic, Triple H handed it to John. Cena watched the crowd cheering and said "and Legacy, if you're not down with that Boston's got two words for ya!"

At the end of the promo, Legacy's music hit and Randy, Ted and Cody made their way to the ring and the match began. Morgan watched with intensity and saw Randy start off against John. They collided in the ring and soon, both men were outside the ring throwing each other into the stairs and the ring-side barriers. Morgan saw John up close when he threw Randy into the announcer's table before sliding him into the ring. Since the match was no DQ and no count-outs, Cena and DX could do anything they wanted to. The match went on and soon, Triple H performed a pedigree on Ted Dibiase and covered for the three count while Shawn and Cena were outside occupying Cody and Randy. DX and Cena celebrated in the ring while Legacy retreated to the back. Soon, the audience heard Vince McMahon's music blare through the arena speakers and Morgan knew it was time to find out who the winner was. She secretly wished it was her but knew her chances were one in thousands so she was prepared for disappointment, and besides, she did get Cena's hat so at least she came out with something, she thought to herself.

Vince reached the ring and DX made their way to the back. John and Vince stood in the ring together and John handed him a microphone while getting another for himself.

"Alright McMahon, let's get this party started shall we." John said. "Yes, I agree, without further ado, the winning ticket number is… RDN473X9O!" Morgan heard the shuffling of tickets and lots of cursing. She pulled out her ticket stub and almost died when she read RDN473X9O. She screamed at the top of her lungs, stood up on her chair and waved the ticket in the air and shouted "I won!" Vince motioned for security to check her ticket and when they confirmed she was the winner, they helped her over the barricade and she climbed into the ring out of breath from screaming so loudly. She was handed a microphone and she stared at John who was smiling at her. He raised his mic to speak but Vince interrupted him. "Well, congratulations Miss. Tell everyone here tonight who our winner is will you?" Morgan took the microphone that was given to her and spoke confidently into it. "My name is Morgan Elizabeth Barlow, Mr. McMahon and I just want to say thank you for giving the fans the opportunity to get to know their favorite superstars" she said. "Thank you Ms. Barlow was it. Well, I'm sure John here needs no introduction so that completes my duties for the night" said Vince. He left the ring and walked up the ramp to the backstage area. John raised his mic to his lips and started to speak.

"Well, Morgan was it, I'm John Cena, it's nice to meet you." Morgan blushed when John stuck out his hand to shake hers and they shook hands as Raw went off the air.

Morgan watched as John made his way toward the ring steps then turned and motioned for her to follow him. He turned over the mics to Lillian and led Morgan over to the commentary table where she would sit during John and Randy's dark match for the WWE title. She watched as John wrestled a phenomenal match for his hometown and almost didn't hear the man beside her when he said hello.

"Hello Morgan, my name is John Sr. I'm John's father, and these four idiots are my sons, and John brother's Matt, Sean, Steve, and Dan. It's nice to meet you, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of you as the month goes on" he told her. "Oh, hi it's nice to meet you too. I knew who you were when I saw your faces though, I've seen John's DVD's" she said laughing. "Of course you have" he said, "my mistake for thinking you would enter a contest to spend time with my son and not have seen his DVD's" said Senior with a light chuckle.

John and Randy's match ended in a DQ when Legacy came out and started to beat on John, shortly followed by DX who chased Ted and Cody to the back while Randy attempted to punt John in the head. Morgan, seeing where he was going yelled and screamed and ran for the ring in an effort to draw Randy's attention away from the half-unconscious John lying in the ring. The ruse worked as Randy started to advance toward Morgan giving John the little time he needed to recover. He looked up and saw the fear in Morgan's eyes and Randy moving menacingly closer to her and instinct took over. He lunged out of the ring and took Randy down with a flying close line and landed feet away from Morgan and his father who just shook his head and laughed. "That was a daring move Morgan, but I'm sure John will thank you for it."

_**After the show-backstage**_

_Knock, knock, knock… _ John heard the knocking on his locker room door and shouted "come in!"

"Oh hey Morgan, did you get back here okay, security give you any trouble" he asked her. "No, it was no trouble at all. They even drove me back to apartment on campus at BU to get my things for the next month, before escorting me backstage" she told him.

"Well, that's good. So you're all set then? I thought we'd stay at my parent's place tonight since you won't have a hotel room to stay in tonight. Does that sound alright to you? They have plenty of guest rooms so you wouldn't be imposing or anything" said John.

"Yes, that sounds fine. I do have to tell you something though, I'm very afraid of flying so I might need some moral support when we're in the air" she laughed.

"Ahh a scaredy-pants are we, well don't worry, you'll be right next to me so if you freak out, you can hold my hand. I used to be scared of flying too but after a while I got used to it, I'm sure you'll do the same" he replied. Morgan punched him playfully in the arm. "I am not a scaredy-pants, I just have a very bad fear of flying" she said matter-of-factly. Morgan got very quiet and John felt like he had said something wrong to upset her. "I'm sorry if I was out of line just now. I didn't mean to put you down or anything" he said. "No, no it's alright, it's just that my sister and I, well, we lost our parents in a plane crash when I was 16 and she was 18 so I've always had this unnerving fear of planes" she told him quietly.

John noticed that she had some tears in her eyes and knew it must have pained her to talk about the plane crash even ten years later. He moved toward her and lifted her chin with his index finger and looked into her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you relive that. If you like, we can drive from city to city. If that would be easier for you I'm sure we can arrange it" he told her softly. Morgan smiled and shook her head. "No, no it's fine. Just give me something to hold on tight to and I'll be just fine. I fly down to Florida occasionally to visit my sister so I'm slowly getting used to it again ya know" she replied.

"Alright, if you're sure. Well I'm ready to head on out of here if you are" he told her. She nodded and he picked up her bags and they walked toward John's rental car in the parking lot. On the way they passed by a number of wrestlers and John introduced Morgan to each and every one. Ten minutes later they had finally made it to the rental car and were all loaded up and on the road to John's childhood home in West Newbury Massachusetts.

_**One hour later- West Newbury MA**__. _

Morgan and John had spent the last hour talking about themselves in the car. Morgan told John that she had just graduated from Boston U's School of Law with a 4.0 and he was very impressed. He asked what her focus was and she told him that she hoped to work in corporate law, maybe do some family or contracts law as well. She said she wasn't tied to Boston anymore since she had no family there and wouldn't mind relocating. She had thought about Florida since her sister and nieces were there, but hadn't really decided yet. John, in turn, told her about growing up in such a large family and talked about how his mother Carol, was so Italian that it was funny. She told him that his father and brother's had introduced themselves at the show and she asked where his wife Liz was. John had visibly tensed when she asked him that and she thought she had done something wrong and quickly apologized to him for getting too personal. John assured her that wasn't the problem just that Liz was unhappy that he would be spending the next month on the road with a 26 year old woman who was not his wife. Morgan had simply said "oh" and left it at that.

When they arrived at John's house, it was well after midnight. They tiptoed into the house and his parents were still up waiting. "Mom, Dad what are you two still doing up" he asked. "Hi son" his father said, "we were waiting for you two to get here" he told him. "We called the hotel and when you didn't answer, we called Randy and he told us you two were heading here because miss Morgan didn't have a hotel room to stay in for the night so we decided to wait up for you two" he finished. Carol stood up and walked over to Morgan. "Hello dear," she said while hugging Morgan like she was family. Morgan looked wide-eyed at John who just chuckled at her. "Mom, I think you're scaring her" he said.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I'm so used to John's friends all knowing who I am before I ever meet them you know" she said. "I've already made up the first guest room for her" she said to John, "you can show her to the room if you like. I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow before you two have to leave" Carol told her son. Morgan smiled and hugged Carol Cena and said "thank you for letting me stay here tonight, I really appreciate it" before following John upstairs to her room.

_**20 minutes later- The Cena's living room**_

John and his father sat in the living room, each quietly sipping a beer. It was almost 1:30 in the morning and neither man could sleep. When Carol had said she made up the guest room she really meant that Morgan would be staying in John's room and John would be sleeping in the guest room. He had figured that out when he reached the first room like his mother had said and realized she meant his room all along. The thought of another girl in his bedroom would send Liz through the roof so he opted not to tell her. _Besides, _he thought, _it's not like I'm in there with her. I'm all the way down the hall…_ John was ripped from his thoughts when his father sighed and got up from the couch. "Going to bed Dad" the younger Cena asked his father. "Yeah son, I'm bushed. Gotta be up early you know, your brother's are coming over to meet your tag-along and we all know they are very early risers. Let's hope Morgan is too huh" he said. The elder Cena headed up the stairs and after a few minutes John did as well. He passed by his own room and heard faint cries coming from inside. He knocked softly and heard the sound of padded feet approaching the door.

Morgan had been crying again, she always did that at night when she thought of her parents and their tragic death. It had been months since she really cried about it, and truth be told, John was the first person she had told in six months. She heard the soft knocking and thought it must have been Carol or Senior coming to check and make sure she was comfortable. She got up and walked to the door, wiping her eyes quickly before she opened it. She was surprised to see John standing on the other side with a concerned look on his face.

"John, hey. Can I help you with something" she asked. "No, I just... I thought I heard you crying. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I was just heading to bed" he said. He could tell she had been crying, her eyes were red and puffy and there were tear stains on her face. "Oh that, I'm alright, sometimes when I talk about my parents it…" John put his hand up to stop her. "It's okay, I understand. I just wanted to make sure you weren't upset about something I did or anything. Get some sleep, my dad told me my brother's are coming over tomorrow and they are always here really early. You'll need your energy" he said, laughing. Morgan smiled and said "thanks for being concerned John. I'm alright though I'll see you in the morning. Good night." "Good night Morgan" said John as she closed the door. He shook his head and walked towards the guest room. He flopped down on the bed and was asleep in minutes. Three doors away, however, was a different story.

Morgan didn't sleep a wink. She spent the whole night wrapped up in the blankets on John's bed and silently cried until daylight broke through the curtains. She laid there for a little while longer and then, after breathing in John scent from his pillows, she figured she had better get a shower in and get ready to meet the rest of his family and pack for their trip to Logan Airport. Morgan left the bedroom with her clothes in her arms and ran into John in the hallway looking fresh from the shower.

"Hey John, I was just heading to the shower but I see you beat me there" she said laughing lightly. "Yeah, you might wanna wait a few minutes, I take pretty hot showers" he said, "third door on the right, I'd go put your stuff in there before dad or mom gets up. If dad gets in there, you'll never get a shower" he said chuckling. Morgan on the other hand was trying very hard not to notice that he was in a towel and water was running down his chest. _He's married you fool... get a hold of yourself_ Morgan thought. "Huh, oh yeah thanks" she said and headed off towards the bathroom. "Oh John, where are the towels, I just remembered I don't have one" she asked him. John just stood there and laughed; he opened the door to his room, stood behind it and took off his towel. He peeked his head around the corner and tossed his towel at her. She dropped her clothes and caught it, her eyes growing wider and cheeks going red. "Um… thanks" she stammered. Morgan bent over and picked up her clothes and high-tailed it to the bathroom.

_**30 minutes later**_

Morgan had finished her shower and gotten dressed in black jeans and a light blue flutter-sleeve top with a deep v-neckline and low heeled black pumps. She quickly swiped on some clear lip gloss and a little concealer under her eyes to cover the dark circles and made her way downstairs after packing up her bags again. She saw John downstairs in a pair of jeans and a button up shirt sitting on the couch flipping through the channels on the television. She walked up quietly behind him and dropped his towel in his lap. "Thanks John" she said and laughed. He just laughed back and chucked the towel into the laundry basket at the bottom of the stairs. "Don't tell my wife I did that, I'll never hear the end of it" he said.

About half an hour later, John and Carol had woken up and finished their daily routines when they came downstairs and saw John and Morgan watching The Fairly Oddparents and having a major pillow fight. Senior stood on the stairs and cleared his throat as Carol just laughed. "Oh hey mom, dad. Glad you guys are up and around. Dan and Matt just called they said they'd all be here in an hour" John told his parents. Morgan got up from the couch and followed Carol into the kitchen. "Good morning Carol, can I help with anything for breakfast" she asked. "Oh no dear, I wouldn't dare ask you for help. You're a guest in this home, you shouldn't be put to work" Carol said. "Oh I don't mind really. I love to cook and it will give me something to do for the next hour until John's rowdy brother's get here" she said laughing. "Well, alright" Carol said. "You can make the bacon while I make the eggs" she said. "And I'll make the hash browns!" yelled John, running in from the living room and causing Morgan to drop the skillet in her hands and she screamed and fell onto the floor. John roared with laughter and went to help her up off the floor where she had fallen but when she took his hand instead of standing she pulled him down with her and roared with laughter of her own. The two lied on the floor laughing hysterically as Carol starting pulling things out of the fridge for breakfast.

"Oh man, I'm so glad McMahon did this contest, I don't think I've had this much fun in a long time" said Morgan. "Me too, I'm just lucky I got a cool girl to hang out with and not some psycho fan girl ya know" laughed John. "Oh you never know John, I could be completely crazy and stalk you in your sleep" Morgan told him with a wink. That made John laugh even harder and he got up, helped Morgan up and washed the skillet she had dropped. The three of them proceeded to make small talk as Morgan told them all about her life while they made breakfast for the Cena family.

**Chapter Two: The Brothers Cena; The First Flight**


	2. Meeting the Family

**A/N:**Thanks for the reviews, I was surprised to see so many people favorite this story so quickly but I'll take that to mean I'm doing a good job so far. I'm still trying to decide where I want to take John and Morgan's relationship as he is married in the story (and in real life… depressing but oh well). I think for now they will remain friends and maybe she'll end up dating some other wrestler or something. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to share and if I use it I'll give you guys credit of course. I'm also trying to decide on length of chapters, the first chapter was thirteen MS Word pages and the second was only five… I'm thinking somewhere in the middle is a good idea. With that, on to the chapter!

**Chapter Two: Meeting the Family**

John's brothers all arrived close to an hour later. The five Cena boys stayed in the living room playing Smackdown vs Raw while Carol and Morgan made breakfast and John's father got the pool ready for the day. The Cena's home was a large two story house with six bedrooms in all, one for each of the boys and the master bedroom as well. Morgan had been alarmed at the breathtaking beauty of the home when she first arrived but now, in the light of day she was even more surprised at the grandeur of it all. She stood next to Carol in the kitchen listening for the popping of the bacon she was cooking and watching the boys try to beat upon each other in a real life version of the WWE, complete with John's original spinner belt as the prize.

"They're certainly are crazy aren't they Morgan" said Carol as she noticed the young girl watching her sons rough-house. "They are certainly something, that's for sure. They do know it's not all real correct" she replied, laughing. Morgan turned back to the bacon and saw it was time for her to start the last batch. "John!" she called, "it's time for those hash browns you keep claiming are the best around…" she said. John came bounding into the kitchen wearing nothing but swim trunks. "Yes, dear" he said and laughed when he looked at Morgan. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something, you alright" he asked her, knowing full well what had her so shell shocked.

"Huh, oh yes I'm fine" she told him and turned back to her bacon. John began to prepare his hash browns and Carol and Morgan finished up the bacon and the eggs. Carol saw that they had everything under control and left the kitchen to round up the rest of the Cena clan for breakfast. Morgan was left with a half-naked John in the kitchen. She could already feel the heat of the blush on her cheeks.

_This is going to be a long month…_ she thought.

_**45 Minutes later- After breakfast**_

"Hey Morgan" called John, "the rest of us are going for a swim, you feel like joining?" he asked her. "Oh, I can't, I don't have a suit. I guess I forgot to pack one last night. I was in a bit of a rush I suppose" she replied. John scratched his head… "hmmm well, let's go get one then. The stores should all be open in town, I'm sure we can find you something at one of them" he said matter-of-factly. Morgan looked surprised. "John, you don't have to do that. I can just get one from my house before we leave for the airport, it's on the way anyways" she told him. "No" he said, you're my guest for the next month, the least I can do is make sure you have everything you need. Now, get a move on, we're going shopping" he told her.

John and Morgan drove to the nearby mall and searched high and low for the perfect swim suit for Morgan. She finally found the one she wanted after two hours of searching. She came out of the dressing room and walked to the counter where John stood waiting for her. "Did you find the one" he asked. "Yes, this is it. Definitely. We can go now" she said. "Great," he replied, "and after only five stores too, that's gotta be a record," he laughed. Morgan punched him in the arm. "I'll have you know that it takes a girl some time to find something she really likes. You should know that, you are married after all are you not" she said smugly. "Ow, that hurt. Damn you punch hard" he told her, rubbing the spot on his arm where she had punched him. "Oh stop you big baby, let's just get out of here, your pool is calling to me" she laughed.

"Oh you two make such a cute couple" the clerk at the counter told them. Morgan flushed red and John just chuckled at her. "We're not a couple" he kindly told her. It was then the clerk realized her mistake when she recognized who John was. "OH!, I'm so sorry Mr. Cena, I didn't realize it was you. Who's your lady friend if you don't mind my asking" she said. "It's perfectly alright Miss…" he glanced at her name tag, "Michelle, this here is Morgan, she's the winner of the hometown superstar contest we've been running in the WWE, and please, call me John, Mr. Cena is my dad's name" he told her. He handed her his Visa card and paid for Morgan 's suit, and the two left the store and headed home. John noticed about five miles from his house that Morgan hadn't said a word since the clerk had told them looked cute together.

"Morgan, are you alright, you seem a little tense" he asked. She turned away from the window and said "yes, I'm fine" and turned back to staring out the passenger side window again. John just sighed and left it at that. _I guess what that clerk said must have upset her but I don't understand why..._ he thought to himself. _I suppose she'll tell me eventually, maybe she's just trying to figure out what to say. _Just then, the ringing of John's phone brought both of them out of their thoughts. John picked it up and looked at the caller ID… _Liz._ He pulled into the driveway and answered the phone as he parked the car.

"Hey Liz, I was just thinking about you" he said into the phone. Morgan listened to the conversation for a second before signaling to John that she was going inside to change and then headed to the pool. He nodded his head and motioned for her to go ahead holding up his hands and mouthing _ten minutes_ to her. "Yeah, I know Liz. You don't like the idea but it's not like I can just go up to Vince and say _'look dude, I can't do this contest thing because my wife doesn't want me too' _I don't have that option honey" he tried to explain. He held the phone about a foot from his ear and Liz could be heard screaming at him through it. "Are you done yelling?" he asked her. "Look, Morgan's a nice girl, and I bed you'd actually like her if you met her. I get the feeling we could be good friends after this contest thing is over" he said. He heard her yelling again… _okay bad idea to say that I guess, _he thought. John racked his brain for something to say to his wife that would calm her down and make her understand the situation. "Okay Liz, I understand how you feel, I really do. Morgan isn't staying in my hotel room over the next month and she won't be featured in any story lines that I'm aware of other than maybe coming to ring with me as my guest for the month. It's pretty much the same thing you've been seeing with the previous winners, ya know. It's fine really, I promise you nothing will happen so can you please just let it go. I love you and we're coming to Florida next week so I'll have them send a couple backstage passes to the house and you can come to the show and meet her if you want to" he explained. John sighed with relief as Liz agreed and said she loved him and hung up the phone. He headed out into the backyard where he saw Matt about to throw Morgan into the pool.

Morgan saw John at the last second. "John help me" she screeched. John just laughed and jumped into the pool fully clothed and Matt tossed her in as well. John laughed as she came up for air and she splashed him with a pout on her face. "I can't believe you let him do that to me" she whined. John just laughed some more. "I wish I had a mirror, your face is priceless right now" he told her. Morgan crossed her arms and huffed "fine then I'll show you." She moved to swim by him for the ladder but John grabbed her before she could get by and dunked her underwater. She stayed under and moved to get behind him where he couldn't see her and when she finally came up, she jumped on John's back and dunked him under as well before swimming quickly towards the edge of the pool. She got out just as John resurfaced and ran for the house. John was quickly catching up and yelling behind her "I'll get you for that." John had eventually caught up to Morgan after chasing her through the entire house three times. He grabbed her and picked her up as if she weighed nothing and gave her the Attitude Adjustment onto a nearby couch before walking upstairs to finish his packing. Morgan just sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what happened. _Oh man, _she thought, _this is gonna be interesting. Hey, at least I'll get to meet the rest of the wrestlers, that should be pretty cool_. Morgan sat for a few minutes before realizing she had to pack her things and retreated to John's room where her stuff still sat on the floor.

_**3 hours later- 12pm**_

John and Morgan finished packing and came downstairs to say their goodbyes to the rest of the Cena family. Morgan reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Carol and John's brothers waiting for her to say goodbye. She walked towards them and Carol reached out for a hug which Morgan gladly accepted. "You'll make sure my boy behaves himself now won't you" Carol asked her. Morgan saw John roll his eyes behind Carol and lightly chuckled before saying "of course I will Carol, thanks for everything." Carol nodded and told Morgan that it was no trouble at all and she was welcome to visit anytime.

While John said goodbye to his parents, Morgan said goodbye to all his brothers and made her way to John's rental car. When she reached the car she was just about to put her bags into the trunk when John came from behind and did it for her. "I could have done that myself John, I'm not an invalid" she said. John just looked at her like she had three heads. "John, why are you looking at me like that" she asked. Morgan stood with her hands on her hips and a perplexed look on her face. John closed the trunk and muttered to himself "women, you do something nice and they get mad at ya, I'll never understand it." Morgan heard him and laughed as she got in the front seat next to John and buckled herself in. She looked at him and said, "thank you John, I could have done it but thank you, it was very sweet." John looked back at her and grinned. "Well that's more like it" he said and Morgan punched him in the arm. "Ow" he said laughing and put the car in gear.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far, it seems everyone likes the story. I have some really great ideas for how I want the story to turn out later on so you'll have to keep reading for that. Oh and in case anyone gets confused, this chapter is titled Morgan's First Flight because it's the first long flight she's taken since her parent's death. I did say she flies to Florida now and again but they are headed to California on this flight which is decidedly a longer plane ride. Just a quick note, I'm thinking of having this story be a series of sorts. I think this first part will be about twenty chapters or so. Is that too long or just about right for a series beginner? I can make it longer but I'm a senior in college and a mommy so I don't have tons of time which is why the updates aren't every day. Anyways, let me know your thoughts and with that… on with the story! **

**-Rhi**

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**Chapter Three: **Morgan's First Flight

John and Morgan were mostly silent on the ride to Logan Airport in Boston. Occasionally, John would glance over at Morgan and she would be staring out the window, a distant look in her eyes. Finally he grew tired of the silence and spoke up.

"Morgan, are you alright. You've barely said a word since we left the house" he asked her.

"What, oh yes I'm fine. Just a little nervous about this flight…" Morgan trailed off and she saw the airport and the planes taking off and landing in the distance.

"You'll be fine. I'll be sitting right next to you if you need to grab onto something" he said. John knew inside that his wife wouldn't be happy that this "strange girl" was holding his hand on an airplane and staying in the same hotel room with him for a month but he'd tried to explain to Liz on at least ten different occasions that Morgan was a contest winner, and a potential friend and nothing more.

He sighed and parked the rental car in front of the airport and popped the trunk to get the bags.

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**One Hour Later….**

" _Attention: At this time we would like to announce that Flight 154 to San Francisco is now boarding rows 1-5. If you are not in rows 1 through 5 please wait until your row is called. Thank you"_ John heard the woman on the P.A. system and turned to look at Morgan.

"This is it, are you ready" he asked her. "I think so" she replied. Morgan grabbed her carry-on and walked slowly towards the boarding tunnel. She handed over her ticket and took the stub from the ticket person and started the walk towards the plane.

John followed quietly behind Morgan and when they finally reached the plane he noticed her stop dead in her tracks at the doorway separating the tunnel from the plane itself. The flight attendant was trying to gently coax her onto the plane.

"Don't be afraid dear, we have the safest planes today. Everything is going to be just fine miss" she said. "Here, let me try" said John. He walked up to Morgan and took her carry-on in one hand and her hand is his other. "Come on, I'll be right with you the entire time, you're safe I promise" he told her. Morgan relaxed a little and let John lead her onto the plane. He winked at the stewardess and she mouthed a thank you back to him as he calmly made his way towards their seats in the 3rd row.

After about fifteen minutes of pure silence from Morgan, she finally spoke up, albeit very quietly. "John" she said, "can I have the window seat?"

John simply nodded and waited for her to step into the aisle so they could trade places. "Thanks" she said. "It helps if I can see the ground I guess. It's kind of backwards I know but I've never been accused of being normal I suppose." She laughed at the last statement and John looked at her. "Well, you seem to be a little more relaxed, are you feeling better" he asked her.

"Yes a little, but we haven't even begun take-off yet so I'm sure I'll get worse soon enough" she told him calmly. Sure enough, ten minutes later she heard the P.A. system click on along with the seatbelt sign and heard the captain's voice fill the cabin.

"_Ladies and gentleman, thank you for flying American Airlines today. This is Captain Connors speaking. On behalf of me and my co-pilot Captain James, we'd like to announce that we are five minutes from take-off and if you could please fasten your seat belts, the flight attendants will begin the pre-flight instructions. We're expecting a smooth flight from Boston to San Francisco this afternoon and we should have you their by seven pm eastern standard time this evening. Once again, thank you for choosing American Airlines and enjoy the flight." _

Morgan buckled her seatbelt and watched as the stewardess showed the passengers where all the emergency exits were as well as how to put on the lifejacket and oxygen mask and what position to be in if there were a crash or emergency landing situation. She felt like she would be sick.

As the plane began to taxi down the runway, Morgan instantly tensed up and reached for John's hand. He might have laughed if he hadn't noticed the look of sheer terror in her eyes and the plane lifted off the ground. By then, Morgan had started to hyperventilate and was her chest was heaving rapidly. John just sat there holding her hand whispering that it would be okay, that they were almost up and it would be over soon.

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**4pm San Francisco**

John and Morgan's flight had been a smooth one and except for the beginning of the flight, Morgan had taken it very well. John noticed that she never let go of his hand until the seatbelt sign had been turned off but the minute it was turned on again and the flight attendants announced the landing, she had grabbed onto him again. Morgan had gotten off the plane slightly rattled and wasn't feeling too well, especially when she saw John get swamped by fans as they entered the terminal.

"Oh my, I didn't realize it was this bad. Is it like this everywhere" she asked. "Huh, oh yeah it's usually like this if I get recognized. Why don't you go get the bags or something, I don't think you want to get caught up in this right now" he told her.

"Oh alright. I'm not feeling all that well so I'll just run to the bathroom and then I'll meet you over at the baggage claim area okay" she said. John nodded to her and the fans came rushing toward him and Morgan slowly moved away and headed for the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later at the baggage carousel John was finally able to escape the throngs of fans and meet up with Morgan. He reached into one of his bags and pulled out a hat and sunglasses in an attempt to get out of the airport before he was recognized again. He was grateful for his fans, he wouldn't have been where he was without them but sometimes, John just wanted to get wherever he was going without being mobbed.

Morgan and John managed to get out of the airport without being spotted again and finally made it to the Sheraton hotel around 5 o'clock that afternoon. John approached the front desk with the bags and Morgan in tow.

"Hello!, Welcome to the Sheraton Hotel, do you have a reservation with us" asked the clerk. John sighed and gave a small laugh at how chipper the young lady behind the desk was.

"Yes, I have a reservation under Cena" he told her. The young woman, punched some numbers into her computer and found the reservations. "It says here Mr. Cena, that you have a reservation for a double occupancy is that correct" she asked him.

"Yes it is. Two double beds to be precise" he replied. John noticed the confused look on the receptionist's face and was concerned himself. "Is there a problem Miss" he asked her.

"No, no problem at all. Just let me double check that we have the correct room available. I'll be just a minute sir" she told him. John waited a few more seconds before she spoke up again. "Ah, here it is, reservation for two under Cena. You're in room 348. Just take the elevators to your left up to the third floor and take a right down the hallway until you see the number. Can I help you with anything else" she asked politely.

John nodded and took the card keys from the receptionist before speaking. "Yes actually. Can you tell me the hours for the pool and weight room" he asked. "Yes of course" she replied, "the pool and weight room are open from 9am until 11pm Monday through Friday and on weekends they are both open from 8am to Midnight" she told him. John thanked her and called to Morgan who had been busy reading a magazine in the lobby while she waited.

"Is everything all set" she asked him. "Yep, we're all good. I don't know about you, but I am definitely ready for a long nap. Cross country flights are monsters" said John. "Yeah I know what you mean, I feel like I'm gonna pass out right here and now" she said. They made their way up to the third floor and to the room where they ran into some of John's wrestling friends along the way.

"Hey Paul, wait up" yelled John. Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H was making his way down the hallway in front of John and Morgan as the exited the elevator. "Hey John what's up man. Did you guys just get here" he asked John. "Yeah, Morgan didn't have a room or anywhere to stay after Raw so I drove us both up to my parents' house for the night and we caught a mid-day flight earlier today. Where's everybody else" he asked.

"Well" said Paul, "Randy, me, Shawn and a couple of the other guys are all going down to the gym for a quick workout and the girls seem to be toying with the idea of going clubbing later on. I'd steer clear or they might convince the both of you to go as well, just like they did the rest of us" he laughed.

Morgan laughed sarcastically at him. "Yeah, like I'm going clubbing with anybody tonight. The first thing I'm doing is taking a shower and then I'm going to bed" she said. She asked John for the key card to the room, took her bags and went to find the room on her own.

_Men, _she thought, _I swear these wrestlers have two things on their mind, working out and women… it never ends does it. Though a lot of them are kind of cute. _Morgan stopped dead at her last thought. _Wait, I can't possibly have a crush on one of these guys, for starters, a lot of them are married, John included and well the ones that aren't… _she stopped to open the door to the room and realized she couldn't think of a good reason to finish the thought. _"Oh boy, here I go again" _she said to herself.

"Where are you going again" said John. Morgan jumped and tried to quickly think of something to cover up what she had been thinking about. "I, um… I was just thinking that… well, never mind it's nothing… sometimes I talk to myself" she finally said. John laughed. "Okay, I don't believe you but I'll let it slide this time" he moved past Morgan and into the hotel room and just before she could enter he turned around and winked at her. "Oh and just so you know, I sometimes talk to myself too" he said.

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**Eight pm- John and Morgan's room**

Morgan sat up groggily and looked to her right at the bed across from her. She looked around the room and realized John wasn't there and reached for the clock to see what time it was. _Eight o'clock! Holy crap, I slept that long_ she thought. She pulled the covers off her body and slowly made her way to the bathroom to take that shower she had wanted since this morning. As she let the hot water steam up the bathroom she thought to herself about all the things that had happened in her life and about how she could have gotten this lucky. _Maybe God is finally listening to me. Maybe this is his way of apologizing for the loss of my parents. Maybe I'm overanalyzing it and I really just got lucky and it's not fate or a higher power or anything…_ Morgan chuckled and finished her shower. She came out of the bathroom wrapped in one of the hotel's plush robes and got dressed. _" I think I'll head down to the lobby and find a good place to eat" _she said to herself.

As she moved towards the door, she noticed the note stuck to it.

_Morgan, _

_Hey, I didn't want to wake you so I headed down to the lobby to get some food and then maybe head over to the gym to meet up with the guys. If you want, come and find me when you get up. See ya later. _

_-John_

Morgan laughed, _typical_ she thought. She grabbed her purse and key card and left for the hotel restaurant and in search of John. Ten minutes later, she found John sitting in the restaurant, amidst a crowd of fans all screaming for autographs and hotel security trying to get them to disperse. She laughed and called out to him.

"John, over here!" she called. He looked up and saw her and indicated to the security guards to escort her over to where he was. A guard approached Morgan and led her through the crowd to John.

"Hey sleepy head, I see you must have read the note I left" said John. "Yeah, thanks for letting me in on the plan" she laughed, "though I don't think this was part of it" she said. "Yeah, I didn't even have a chance to eat yet" he said. "Wow" she replied, "hey, why don't we get these guys to help us get back to the room and we can just order room service or something that way we can both eat and not be mobbed. I don't know about you, but I really don't feel like being mobbed today ya know," John laughed and signaled the guards again.

"Can you guys get us back up to the room," he asked one of them. "Yeah sure thing, just follow me and we'll go through the kitchen and get ya both out of here" the guard told them. Morgan and John raced behind the guard and were quickly followed by two other guards trying in vain to keep the throngs of fans away from them.

John and Morgan finally burst through the hotel room door and locked it behind them. Both out of breath, they collapsed on the bed and Morgan began laughing hysterically. "Omigosh that was so much fun" she laughed, "is it like that for you all the time" she asked John. He had already started laughing but nodded slightly. "Sometimes it can get like that, this was on the more interesting encounters. Usually the male fans aren't that rowdy" he said. "Yeah, I kind of noticed they were all girls" said Morgan, "I guess you're pretty popular with the ladies huh, must be hard for Liz to deal with" she said.

"Yeah, she doesn't like it but there's not much I can really do about it. I can't not sign the autographs and not give the hugs and pictures or I'll lose the fan base, and trust me, that would be a bad thing ya know" he explained. "Yeah I get it. It must be frustrating to not even be able to eat a meal though without getting mobbed like that. How do you do it every day?" she asked.

"Eh, eventually you just kind of get used to it" he replied. "So, what do ya say we get some food up here" he said and reached for the phone.

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**10pm- John and Morgan's room**

"Oh man, I am stuffed!" said Morgan. She lay back on the bed and just stared at the ceiling for a minute before she felt John lying down as well. "I can't believe you ate that much" he said. "Liz never eats more than a salad or a tiny bit of chicken, she's really health conscious and I mean, I am too but I still have a high food intake, I've never met a girl who can eat as much as you and still manages to look healthy. What's your secret" he said laughing. "Oh shut up John. I've always been a big eater, I just manage to keep it off because I'm constantly on the go you know. I mean, in school, I was constantly walking across the campus almost every day and I walked back and forth from my apartment so I got a lot of exercise I guess, that and I'm not a big drinker or anything. I guess that helps" she told him.

John called room service again to have them pick up the cart and called Randy to tell him he wouldn't be going out with everyone else that night.

"So, we're all by ourselves for the night. Everyone else is going out to the club, wanna see if there's a good movie on?" John asked Morgan. She turned and looked at John with a strange look on her face. "Why are you looking at me like that" he asked her. "Like what, I'm not doing anything" she told him and began to dig through her bag for something. "Here, I've got a movie we can watch. She pulled out a DVD from her bag and tossed it at John. He caught it and groaned at the title. "The Marine, really… do I really have to watch myself" he asked her. She just laughed at John and said "yes, you do. I'm going to get changed so you can put the movie on. I'll be right back" she told him.

Five minutes later, Morgan emerged from the bathroom dressed in her pajamas and her robe from earlier and sat down on the bed next to John and pressed play on the remote control.

Two hours later the movie had finished and John had started to say something to Morgan before he realized she had fallen asleep. _I'll just sleep in the other bed. I don't want to wake her up, _he thought to himself. John got up from the bed and carefully pulled the covers over Morgan's sleeping form, turned off the television, set his alarm and climbed into the second bed before quickly drifting off to sleep.

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	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm thrilled that everyone seems to like the story so far. I've added a poll and some forum topics to help me decide where Morgan should go romantically in this part of the story so if anyone has any ideas they would be greatly appreciated. I'm also looking for two or three beta readers so if anyone can help or knows someone who can, please feel free to send me a message at any time. Now, we're going to skip ahead a couple of weeks in the story because I can't possibly write a new chapter for every single day in the month Morgan gets to spend with John. Also, I added two characters based on a couple of friends of mine and changed their names. I own the characters of Morgan, Jack and Carla and no one else. My two friends own their own likenesses, not the names. On to the story!**

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**Chapter Four- Two Weeks Later**

**Monday Night Raw June 15****th**

**Denver Colorado **

Morgan stepped into the air terminal in Denver as if she had been flying her whole life. Over the course of the past two weeks, she had become more accustomed to flying and her fear of planes had virtually disappeared. John stepped out behind her and yawned.

"I gotta say, I'm glad you don't need moral support to fly anymore. I don't mind giving it, but I much prefer sleeping" he told her.

"Shut up John" she replied and punched him in the shoulder.

"Hey what did I tell ya about this whole punching thing… If I get a bruise on my arm, Vince ain't gonna be happy" he said.

"Oh boo hoo, Vince is never happy and one bruise won't kill you. Just tell him you walked into a door or something" she said as she laughed at him.

"Whatever, has anyone ever told you you're very violent sometimes" he asked. Morgan turned and grinned at him.

"Who me, never, now let's go get the bags and get the hell out of here what do ya say" she said still grinning at John wildly.

Morgan took off towards baggage claim and John chuckled to himself before following her. _Man, these last two weeks have been fun. Sucks she's only here for two more, I could definitely see us being friends after this. I'll have to get her address or something so I can visit when we're in Boston again _he thought. John and Morgan had spent almost every day of the past two weeks laughing about the most ridiculous things, he even convinced her to go to a karaoke bar with a few of his friends from Raw and she had loved every minute of it. Of course seeing John, Randy, Paul (Triple H) and HBK singing some random song was hilarious she had to admit.

_I'm really gonna miss this _she thought. _I wish I didn't have to leave so soon. I haven't had a friend that I could talk to like this in a long time…_

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**Flashback- High school, Senior Year 2001, Boston Massachusetts**

"Hey Jack!" Morgan called out to her friend from across the cafeteria.

"Hey Morgan, how you doing" Jack said. He and Morgan had been friends since tenth grade but had recently become close. They shared all their secrets, dreams, hopes and fears. Morgan had never had a friend she could trust with her life until she met Jack.

"I can't believe we're graduating tomorrow. You're still going to Boston University aren't ya" Jack asked her.

"Yeah I can't wait. I'm actually excited, I got my dorm assignment and my class schedule in the mail yesterday. Hey you never told me where you're going" she told him.

"Oh, well um… actually I kinda wanted to talk to you about that. My parents are moving" he said. Morgan looked shocked.

"What do you mean they're moving… you mean like you're moving a couple towns away or something" she asked. Jack didn't look up, instead he just sighed.

"Oh my god, you're moving away aren't you, like to another state away…" Morgan trailed off and stared at Jack silently willing him to say it wasn't true. He looked up at Morgan and noticed the look in her eyes before he spoke. "They're moving to Connecticut, at the end of the summer. They said I had to go with them and go to college there. I don't know why, they wouldn't say anything about it except that I had to go and I might as well accept it" he told her.

August, three months later. Morgan stood silently in Jack's driveway helping everyone get the rest of the boxes in the moving truck. She hadn't said a word to Jack all day and every time his mother or father tried to talk to her she gave them the most evil look on the face of the planet. They hadn't tried talking for the past hour because of that. Morgan had been counting down to this day, D-Day, on her calendar. The time had come to say goodbye and as she hugged her best friend for what was most likely the final time in her life, she held back her tears and put up a brave face and said "I'll call you every day, and maybe during breaks we can visit each other. I'll miss you, don't go making new best friends on me…" she started to choke up then and let go so he could leave.

Jack got into his parents car and as they drove away, Morgan stood dumbfounded in his driveway and watched until the car was just a dot on the horizon in her eyes. Then the tears came and she ran. She ran and ran until finally she reached home.

**End Flashback **

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_It's been eight years since then_ she thought, _and I still remember every detail of the day. I wonder where he is now. Eight years, my god, it still feels like it happened just yesterday._

Morgan was snatched out of her reverie by John waving a hand in her face.  
"Hello, earth to Morgan, anybody home" he asked still waving the hand like a moron.

"Oh stop that" she said and smacked his hand away. "I'm here, did you find all the bags yet" she asked. John nodded and looked at her, concern etched on his features.

"Are you sure you're alright. You seem a little less chipper than before" he said. "Yes I'm fine, I was just remembering something about an old friend. It's nothing don't worry" she said.

_Don't lie, you know it's not nothing _she said to herself. _It's everything, the whole reason you haven't had a friend since then is because they always leave so what's the point, _she started to fight with herself in her head. _It doesn't matter anymore, besides, there are lots of reasons why I don't have friends… I don't have time and… Oh stop it, you know why. You're afraid if you get close, they'll leave you. That's not true! I'm not afraid that John will leave, I know he will. He travels like 95% of the time, I'm just protecting myself from unnecessary hurt. _

"Morgan, you're gone again…" she heard John faintly through her argument in her head and snapped out of it rather quickly. "What, oh sorry. I guess I just got caught up in old memories ya know. It happens a lot I suppose, so shall we get out of here" she asked.

John was unsure if he should let her off the hook so easily but he figured they were friends and if she wanted to talk about it, he was sure she would, he just needed to give it time. _I sure hope she's alright. Those seem like pretty powerful memories_ he thought to himself.

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**11 PM End of Monday Night Raw**

Morgan sat in the women's locker room with Melina, Kelly Kelly and Eve watching the show from backstage. John was in the ring doing a promo for his title shot against Randy Orton at the next pay per view event.

"Hey Morgan" said Melina, "are you having fun so far" she asked.

"Yeah I'm having a lot of fun. I don't want to go home" she replied.

"Well, maybe you don't have too" said Kelly, "I mean, you could always be a diva if you trained enough" she told her. Morgan looked at Kelly like she was on fire.

"Are you crazy, I could never do what you girls do… besides I have a bar exam and a high paying job waiting for me in Boston when I get back" she told Kelly, "but thanks for the confidence."

A series of loud crashes caught the girls' attention and they turned back to the monitor showing what was going on out in the ring. Morgan watched wide-eyed as Orton used the RKO on John and then punted him in the head and leaving the ring. Morgan got up and ran to the entrance of the ring area and waited until the cameramen signaled they were off the air and ran like a mad woman down to the ring just as John began to stir.

Morgan got to the ring apron and called out "are you alright" as she saw John begin to pull himself up clearly selling the punt from Orton. Morgan watched the trainers help him out of the ring after he refused the neck brace they had tried to put on him.

"John, are you alright" she asked him once they had gotten backstage.

"Yeah, I'm alright. It hurts but I don't have a concussion or anything so I'll be fine. I can't believe you went out there" he said laughing, "I mean sure we were off air but I'm still surprised you didn't care about the thousands of people in the crowd either" he finished.

Morgan blushed slightly and chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I was just concerned. The kick looked pretty real to me and I know people have been injured by them legitimately so I just wanted to be sure. I don't wanna spend the next two weeks playing nurse ya know" she said laughing at him. "I don't have the patience for patients" she told him.

John stared at and busted out laughing. "Did you just come up with that" he asked in between breaths.

Morgan's face was beaming with a huge smile. "Yep, I'm that awesome" she said. John finally stopped laughing and took on a serious look. "Yes, you are awesome" he said, "now let's get out of here before our collective awesomeness puts everyone in a trance" he finished and ran for the rental car.

"Oh HA HA… you think you're so funny don't you" Morgan yelled after him and she began to chase him towards the parking garage.

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**1PM The Following Monday**

The rest of the week went much the same way as the previous ones had. John accompanied Morgan to signings and appearances and while John met with fans, Morgan busied herself by studying for her bar exam which coincidentally was only two weeks after she would return to Boston so when John had offered to buy her the books she needed to study for it, she gladly accepted it and had been using all her free time to get a jump start on things. This week, Raw was being broadcast live from the Amway Arena in Orlando Florida and John had promised Morgan he would take her to Disney World during their free time from WWE related events. Morgan had profusely insisted he didn't have to do it but he had insisted after he had learned that she had never been there in her life.

Morgan was waiting for John to finish one of his signings when she heard a familiar voice she hadn't heard in years.

"Morgan Elizabeth is that you!?" she heard behind her. She turned and what she saw she almost didn't believe at all.

"Omigosh, Carla!" she screamed. John heard the scream and looked up from the table and saw Morgan hugging a young woman who looked much the same as her.

"Oh wow, I never thought I'd see you again" said Carla, "I thought you still lived in Boston, what in the world are you doing in Orlando" she asked.

"Oh Carla, you wouldn't believe me if I told you" she said. Carla looked at her mischeviously and said "try me." Morgan sat down with her old friend and told her the story of how she came to be traveling with John and the WWE.

"You're right, I don't believe it.. that's insane you have got to be the luckiest girl alive" she said. "So you're heading back to Boston this Friday then" she said, "what are you going to do until then, are you busy we should totally get together before you leave" said Carla excitedly.

"Well, if you're not too busy on Wednesday, John has promised to take me to Disney World because I've never been there before, maybe you could come with us" Morgan suggested. Carla's eyes lit up and she nodded furiously. "I'll call the office right now and tell them I won't be in" she said. Morgan had learned that Carla had fulfilled her lifelong dream and was working at a dolphin encounter park as a marine biologist and as the head of her department, she could take off any day she needed with virtually no notice and no conflicts.

Meanwhile, John had finished his signing and was making his way over to the two girls. They were so engrossed in their conversation they hadn't noticed him standing there for a few minutes.

"Ahem" he cleared his throat. "So Morgan, you gonna introduce me to your new friend" he asked.

"Oh, John I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were there, this is Carla Connor, Carla this is John Cena" said Morgan. John took Carla's hand and shook it "it's nice to meet you" he said. Carla blushed a little and said "it's nice to meet you too."

Morgan interjected saying "oh I almost forgot John, Carla isn't a new friend. She's an old friend from my high school. She moved here for college so she could swim with dolphins" said Morgan. "If you don't mind John, she's going to come with us to Disney World on Wednesday so we can catch up" she said.

"Sure, the more the merrier" said John. He smiled at Carla and turned to Morgan. "We need to get going though. I have another signing in two hours at a Borders near here and I think I'm going to need a fresh change of clothes or a shower or something" he said, "if you'd like, you can come along too" he said to Carla.

"She can, really!" both girls squealed in excitement when John said yes and followed him out the door and to the rental car back to the hotel.

After the signing and Monday Night Raw, John was so tired he couldn't think of anything but sleep. Morgan however, was incredibly wired. Her and Carla had spent the whole day together catching up and had exchanged numbers and addresses so they could meet up before heading to Disney on Wednesday.

"I can't believe I ran into her today. That's incredible! I haven't seen her in almost eight years" Morgan rambled on and on and suddenly, she looked over and realized John had fallen asleep. She laughed slightly, turned out the light and went to sleep herself.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N****- Hey everybody! It's been a little longer than I had hoped in between chapters but I've been dealing with school and stuff lately so I've been a little too burned out to think about the story… Anyways, so we're skipping over John and Morgan's Disney World trip as a whole but I'll write about how fun it was and what not I just don't want this whole chapter to be the trip. **

**WARNING****: Those of you who hate sappy parts of stories might not like this chapter. Morgan goes back to Boston and starts her new job… sad I know but it's no where near the end. I've got some great surprises in store for her and John.**

-Rhi

**Chapter Five- Boston Beckons**

**Friday 9am, Orlando International Airport**

Morgan sat back in her chair waiting until the time came to board her flight to Boston. She looked over to her left and saw John reading a muscle car magazine with a hat and sunglasses on to keep the fans from noticing him. She chuckled slightly as she remembered how he had gotten mobbed the second they got to the gates at Disney World the past Wednesday and she smiled thinking about how much fun she had that day. Carla had met them both there right as the gates opened for the day and saw the mobs of people asking John for autographs and she hadn't stopped laughing at him all day after that.

As if she had mentally willed her friend to be there, Morgan's phone went off and she saw that it was Carla calling her.

"Hey girl! Where are you, my flight leaves in an hour or so" she asked Carla.

John looked up at the sound of Morgan's voice and noticed the bright smile on her face as she spoke to Carla on the phone and silently wished her flight had been delayed… forever.

_What am I thinking… god if Liz were here she'd have my head for even wishing Morgan could stay _thought John. He had been slightly depressed from the moment he woke up this morning because he knew this would be it. Morgan would leave and he might never see her again.

_I can't let that happen_ he thought. _There's got to be some way I can get her to stay or at least give me her address so I can visit her when we're in Boston…_ John's thoughts trailed off as he heard Morgan saying goodbye to Carla.

"Alright, well you'd better be here to say goodbye… and soon. I'm really gonna miss you, I'm so glad you found me in that stupid bookstore" she said laughing. "Okay see ya soon, bye" he heard her say. Morgan shut her phone off after that and felt like someone was watching her. She looked up and caught John staring at her.

"Can I help you…" she asked him with a slight smirk on her face. John looked like a deer caught in the headlights and stammered.

"I... um... I was just… um…" _shit _he thought _come on Cena, think of something to say... anything_ he thought to himself. Finally he looked up again.

"Morgan" he said softly. "Yeah John?" she asked. "Well, I was just thinking… WWE is coming back to Boston in a few months and well I just thought maybe we could meet up for lunch or dinner or something if you won't be too busy that is" he asked her sheepishly.

"Awe John, you do care…" she said. "Of course we can get together. If you think for one second I'm not gonna keep calling your ass when I'm back home you're freaking crazy" she said.

He smiled instantly. "Good, because if you think I'm letting you get on that plane without giving me a number or something then _you're _ the one who's crazy" he retorted.

Morgan laughed and got up to sit next to him for the rest of her wait. They talked and reminisced about her time on the road and how much fun they'd both had and after a short time Carla arrived and she and Morgan said their goodbyes.

"Don't forget, you're more than welcome to come visit me here in Florida. Give me a call next time you visit your sister or something and we'll do lunch" said Carla.

"Hey same to you girl. If you're ever in Boston again give me a call" Morgan replied. "I'm gonna miss you soooo much. I still can't believe how lucky I was to be at that store… I swear it must have been fate" said Morgan.

"Yeah I guess so" said Carla sadly. Morgan could tell something was up with her friend but she didn't' want to say anything. It had been a long time and she didn't know if Carla would open up to her again like she had done in the past but she took a shot anyways.

"Carla… is everything alright. You seem a little down, I know I'm leaving but this seems like more than just a friend leaving that's bugging you. It may have been eight years but I can still read you like a book" she said. Carla sighed and sat down. She hadn't wanted to bring this up to Morgan but she needed to know.

"John, could you excuse us for a few minutes, I need to talk to Morgan about something" she turned to John and he saw the look in her eyes meant this talk was serious.

"Sure, I'll just go check out the magazine rack over there for a little bit. Come and get me when you two are done" he said to Morgan, and slowly made his way to the other side of the room scratching his head.

_**With Carla and Morgan**_

"What's up Carla…" asked Morgan. "What's going on?"

Carla sighed… "Well, where to start. I've been wondering a couple of things since we went to Disney the other day but I wasn't sure if I should ask" she began.

"Oh, well this ought to be an interesting conversation" said Morgan, "go ahead.. ask away I guess" she told her friend.

"Okay well.. just don't hate me" she said in response. Morgan looked at Carla like she was crazy and just laughed. "Out with it girl" she said.

Carla looked down and said "have you talked to Josh since…" she trailed off and couldn't finish the sentence.

Morgan looked shocked. She stammered… "It's, I… um… no. No I haven't and I don't plan too ever again" she said quickly. Carla looked at her friend and she looked angry. Carla knew she shouldn't have brought up Josh but she needed to know how her friend was doing after everything she'd gone through over him and asking her was really the only way. She knew Morgan hadn't told John a thing about him for two reasons. One, Morgan never talked about Josh again after college and two, frankly it wasn't any of John's business even if they were friends.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up. I just wanted to know how you were doing about all of it and well…" Carla stopped again. She hadn't wanted to tell her friend anything but she thought she had to. Someone had to and it sure as hell wouldn't be Josh himself. He had completely written her out of his life, or so it seemed anyways.

"Why did you bring it up" asked Morgan, curiosity filling her voice. _Shit _thought Carla, _I knew she was going to ask that. _

"Well" she sighed and pulled out a small envelope from her purse. "I got this in the mail yesterday. My guess is you might have one when you get home and I thought you'd want to know before that since it was quite a shock to me as well" she said as she handed Morgan the intricately designed white envelope.

Morgan looked at it and knew what it was before she even opened it. She pulled out the small card and read the writing on its face.

_Joshua Williamson and Brittany Davis request the honor of your presence as they join in marriage Saturday the 22__nd__ of August 2009, 4pm at Trinity Church in New York City. _

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_**John's POV**_

John watched Carla pull a small card out of her purse and Morgan's quizzical expression turned to one of panic and sadness and rage all at once. He saw her read the words and saw Carla reach out to hold her friend and watched as they spoke a little while longer and saw Carla get up, hug Morgan and leave the terminal. When Morgan didn't get up or motion to him that it was okay for him to come back he decided to make his way slowly over to her.

_**Morgan's POV**_

_I can't believe he's getting married and he didn't tell me. Well actually I suppose he can, I'm not important to him anymore so why should he feel obligated to tell me anything…_ she thought.

"Still, I thought he'd at least let me know something major like this was happening…"

"Something major like what is happening…" John said as he strode over to her.

"Huh what… oh, it's nothing, an old _friend_ of mine is getting married. Carla just got her invitation today and this is the first I've even heard of him having a girlfriend let alone a fiancée. We don't talk anymore, but his family keeps in touch. I guess they didn't want to tell me, though I can understand why I suppose…" she said. "Oh geez, listen to me rambling on about someone who doesn't matter anymore." She laughed slightly but John could tell that the news bothered her he just didn't know why.

"Yeah… anyways, it's almost time for your flight" he told her. "Are you sure you'll be okay to fly alone. I could always bribe someone into giving me their ticket" he laughed.

"John I've been flying like a pro for two weeks now. Are you sure it's that I'm afraid and not just that you're gonna miss me so much you don't want me to go" she laughed.

John smiled sadly. "You caught me. I really am gonna miss you ya know. I really missed having somebody to hang out with on the road, I wish you didn't have to leave so soon but you said I could come visit anytime right" he asked her.

"Course you can. Just give me a call when you're gonna be in town and we'll make plans to get together I promise" she said. "Oh and give me a call out of the blue if you want. I programmed my number in your Blackberry while you were looking at magazines earlier" she said grinning.

John laughed.. "why you sneaky little stalker you" he said grinning from ear to ear at her.

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**11 am Orlando Int'l Airport**

_**Ladies and Gentleman at this time we'd like to begin boarding for Flight 221 to Logan Airport. If you are in rows 1-10 you may begin boarding now. **_

Morgan's breath caught in her throat as she heard the announcement over the intercom in the airport. _This is it, Boston here I come_ she thought. _Oh man, I don't wanna leave but I'm really excited about my new job…_

"Well here goes nothing John" she said. "Yeah" he said sadly. John picked up her carry-on bag and walked with Morgan to the door of the plane.

Morgan started to tear up a little and took her bag from John.

"So… I'll call you when I get to Boston, you know, to let ya know I made it and all…" she said. "I.. I'm really gonna miss you. Well I'm gonna miss everybody really I haven't had this much fun or been this happy really in a long time and… oh geez here I go rambling again. I'll shut up now" she said.

John lifted her head by placing a finger under her chin. "Hey" he said. "No one's gonna forget about you and I'm gonna come and visit you have my word. So stop crying before you make me cry too" he told her. He reached out to hug her and she stepped into his arms, her cries muffled by his shirt.

She looked up at him and swallowed hard. "Okay. I'm holding ya to that though" she said. "Oh one more thing" she said and quickly dug into her carry-on and fished out a digital camera.

She turned to the gate attendant. "Miss, would you mind taking a picture of us, I'd really appreciate it" she asked her. The gate attendant smiled, "I'd be more than happy to" she said.

Morgan turned around and John hugged her from behind and they both flashed a huge cheesy grin as the attendant snapped the picture. "It looks perfect. You'll love it" she told them both and handed the camera back to Morgan who thanked her and flashed her plane ticket as well.

The next thing she knew she was being ushered through the gateway but before she could be pushed through completely she turned and waved to John who smiled and waved back, then she turned around and boarded the plane, tears streaming down her face.

-----------------------------------------

_**Four hours later…**_

Morgan walked into her apartment in Boston after a one hour layover in Baltimore and then the horrendous wait for a damn taxi at the airport and flopped down on the couch more tired than she had been in a long time.

She had promised John she would call as soon as she had made it home and she fully intended to make good on that promise but she needed a shower and some food first and she figured John was probably busy anyways so she called and ordered a pizza and took a shower while she waited.

-----------------------------------------

**Orlando Florida, 5pm**

"Man, why hasn't she called yet…" Randy Orton had been listening to John freak out for the past hour and a half about Morgan not calling him yet and now he'd gotten so bad he was pacing around the arena like a madman.

"Dude, relax. She's gonna call. Maybe her other flight got delayed or she needed to go get groceries or something.. she's fine I'm sure of it" Randy said trying to reassure his friend who seemed to be losing his mind.

"Yeah you're probably right. I'm gonna go to the gym for a while, maybe it'll help pass the time" said John. He picked up his phone and his IPod and headed over to the gym at their hotel.

**------------------------------------------**

John's phone began to ring and Morgan waited patiently for him to pick up. She frowned slightly when it went to voicemail.

_**Hey you caught me… I can't get to the phone right now but if ya leave a message I'll call you back as soon as I can… **_

Morgan smiled when she heard his voice message on his voicemail and waited for the beep…

"Hey John, Morgan here, sorry I didn't call you sooner. I got a layover in Baltimore and it took me almost an hour to get a cab from the airport. Then I got home and desperately needed a shower and some food and now here I am… just wanted to let you know I got home safe and I already miss ya… it's too quiet" she laughed and continued her message. "Anyways, gimme a call later if you want, I'll be up for a while tonight okay. Talk to you soon I hope, bye."

Morgan finished her message and took her bags upstairs to unpack and turned on her music. Ironically the first song her IPod started playing was John's. _Right Now_ began to fill the room and she smiled to herself and danced around the room singing along with the song and putting all her clean clothes away and sorted out the laundry.

---------------------------------------------------

"**Hey John, Morgan here…"** John had finished his workout and saw the missed call from Morgan on his cell and listened to her message immediately. The second he heard her voice through the phone he smiled and he laughed along with her when she said she missed him already.

"If you only knew" he said out loud to himself. John sighed and decided he'd call her a little while later thinking she was probably busy unpacking her stuff. He laid down on the bed in his hotel bed and grabbed a pillow. He figured he had enough time to take a nap before he would call her back and he didn't have to be early for a flight the next day so staying up later wouldn't really be an issue.

_Besides, it's not like there's anyone here to keep me company now anyways_ he thought to himself. He laid down on the pillow and instantly sat back up and stared at it. He couldn't be this unlucky, could he… John picked up the pillow and held it up to his face and breathed in deep… _oh crap, even the pillow smells like her now.. damn_ he thought.

He called down to room service and asked them to bring him some new pillows and sheets. He knew it sounded like a crazy request but she had been in that room less than six hours ago and he knew he'd never sleep if the whole bed smelled like her which at that point it did.

_God I must be acting like a crazy man. It's a good thing Liz isn't here to see this, she'd probably kill me for even thinking about missing Morgan. Jesus why can't she just be happy for me that I found a good friend…_ he thought.

Almost by magic, John's phone rang and he looked down hoping it was Morgan. The phone's caller ID flashed brightly… _**Liz**_

"Oh great, just what I need right now" John sighed and flipped open the phone and put on a smile so he would sound happy.

"Hey babe, what's up" he said.

"Hi honey. Has Morgan left yet" he heard Liz ask.. _Of course she would ask that before anything else _he thought.

"Yeah she left this morning. She already back in Boston now. She left a message telling me she got back safely. What are you up to?" John asked his wife.

"Oh, well I'm sorry your _friend _had to leave" said Liz. "I've just been hanging around the house really. Some friends came over for a while but other than that I haven't done all that much. I just thought I'd call and tell you I love you and I miss you. When are you coming home again?" she asked him.

"Not for a couple more weeks I think. I'll be home as soon as I can though I promise" he told her. "I've gotta go though. I was going to take a nap when you called. I had a pretty long workout today and I'm a little tired from it. I miss you too honey. Love you" he told her.

Liz sighed… "Okay. I guess I'll let you go then. Bye" she said and he heard her hang up the phone and followed suit. Truth be told he'd heard the way she'd said his _friend_ and he wasn't happy about it and wanted to get off the phone before a big argument started.

He'd kept the arguments from Morgan ever since she'd been on the road and they'd become friends. He didn't want her to know that he and his wife were fighting because Liz didn't like the fact that he had a woman traveling with him who wasn't her, even if they were just friends and she was a contest winner. That "stuff" as Liz had called it many times, never mattered to her and she had wanted John to tell Vince he couldn't do the contest but John had refused.

In the short time he'd known her, Morgan had become a good friend… someone he could talk to and laugh with and cry with if the situation called for it. He had seen the picture she took of them at the airport in his email and he couldn't deny he missed her a lot.

_Awe shit… _he thought to himself. "Now I gotta call" he said to himself. He reached for his phone and searched the phonebook for her number. He dialed and heard the ringing and waited for her pick up on the other end.

**-------------------------------------------**

_**Hey it's Morgan, I'm not in right now but if you leave a…. **_

"Crap, crap, crap" yelled Morgan running through the house to get to the phone.

BEEP…. _ Hey Morgan it's John. Guess I caught you at a bad time… _ Morgan heard John's voice through the answering machine and snatched the phone off its holder.

"Hello… John are you there?" she said out of breath.

"Oh hey Morgan, I thought I missed ya this time" he said smiling from ear to ear when she'd picked up.

"Yeah you almost did. I was upstairs and I had the phone upstairs off the hook but I saw the light blinking that said someone was calling and then I turned the music down and heard the phone downstairs hit my voicemail and I just knew it would be you calling back since no one else knows I'm home yet so I raced downstairs and here I am…" she said quickly.

John laughed and she felt like she would die when she heard it. _What the fuck.. am I falling for John Cena.. this is sooo not happening _she thought to herself.

"Yeah well I got your message, sorry your flight sucked and what not… but I'm glad you got home safe. Oh and I have good news.." he told her. "I talked to Vince today and asked him if he had a schedule with him and I found out we'll be back in the area for a couple of house shows in late August.. that's a little over a month from now" he said beaming.

Morgan didn't say anything she just smirked slightly. "I can hear you smirking Morgan" said John. "And before you get all sarcastic-y I'll have you know I was curious about the schedule because I haven't been home to see my parents lately either and they live around there to ya know…" he told her.

"Suuuure John, we'll go with that" laughed Morgan. "Listen, I've love to talk some more but I've really got to get things set up around here and get to bed too. I'll call you after your match on Monday though if you want me too" she said.

"Absolutely" he told her. "I'm looking forward to it.. talk to you soon" he said and they hung up the phone.

John had lied in bed for over an hour knowing that meeting Morgan was going to change his life but what he didn't know was how and when and that Morgan was lying in her apartment thinking the very same thing. John and Morgan fell asleep that night he in his hotel room and her in her apartment in Boston but neither of them slept well. The past month had a more profound effect than either of them were willing to admit for completely different reasons.

**A/N: Okay so I warned you it was kinda sad… the next chapter we'll be skipping ahead a few months to when John comes back to Boston and he and Morgan see each other for the first time in over a month. Also, on a side note, the character of Josh is based loosely on another friend of mine and I stress the word loosely, but he's going to be playing a much bigger role in the story later on. Let's just say he and Morgan have an interesting past and the wedding will be a very dramatic event for everyone. Don't forget to review and as always.. I own no one but Morgan and her friends. **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey, two updates already... I'm on a roll… so in this chapter we're moving forward about two months in time. John's coming back to Boston and Morgan asks him for a favor while he's there… you'll have to read what it is to find out. Josh will also be in this chapter as well and we'll all find out together why Morgan got so upset when his name came up. We'll also be dealing a little with Liz and John's marriage and the beginning of the strain that Morgan has caused on it. **

**Chapter Six**

**August 17****th**** –Monday Night Raw **

**Boston Massachusetts**

Morgan sat right in the front row at the arena in Boston waiting for Raw to start. Suddenly the pyro went off and John's music filled the arena. Morgan couldn't help but grin like an idiot and she reached into her bag and pulled out the hat she caught the night she first met John and put it on her head while she watched him enter the ring.

_Where is she…? I know she's here she said she had front row seats tonight… _thought John. He scanned the audience while he waited for someone to hand him a microphone and finally he spotted her standing with her hands on her hips, the hat she caught the night she won the contest and a big goofy grin on her face. He smiled and winked at her and she smiled back and waved.

Morgan sat and watched John's promo with Randy Orton and cheered him on during his handicap match against The Legacy later that night. She watched as Orton came out and kicked John in the head and knew as soon as the kick had hit that something was wrong. The match ended and the camera's stopped rolling and John still hadn't moved from the middle of the ring. Orton and Legacy had headed backstage and called for the trainers to check on John. Morgan watched and the trainer's ran down to the ring with a stretcher and tried to wake and unconscious Cena to get him onto the stretcher.

Fans were beginning to file out of the arena having already seen this type of ending hundreds of times before. No one knew it was serious this time but Morgan. She stood frozen behind the announcer's booth and finally turned to Jerry Lawler who recognized her immediately.

"Jerry, he's gonna be okay right" she asked, fear etched on her face. King turned to look at her.

"Of course. He's John, he'll be fine it's probably just a slight concussion, here let me help you over the barricade" he told her and held out his hand. Morgan took it and stepped on her chair and let Jerry help her over the barricade and she made her way over to the ring steps. Just as she was about to climb into the ring, security came down and tried to escort her away.

"Ma'm I'm sorry but fans aren't allowed in the ring at any time. I'll afraid I have to ask you to leave" said the guard. Morgan looked at him angrily.

"Excuse me but my name is Morgan Barlow and I'm a friend of John's who by the way happens to be lying in that ring right there unconscious and if you think you're going to stop me from checking on my friend you are sadly mistaken mister" she said. "Now I suggest you let go of me before I sue you for assault and battery" she finished.

The guard looked stunned until Randy came back down the ramp and told him to let Morgan into the ring. He explained who she was and said that if she wasn't allowed in the ring not only would John be unhappy, Vince would be angry as well and the guard would probably lose his job.

"Thanks Randy" said Morgan. "I appreciate the help" she told him.

"No problem. Need any help?" he asked her.

"No I think I got it. I just wanna make sure he's alright. What happened in the ring?" she asked him. Randy looked over to John who was finally sitting up but still hadn't come around completely.

"You know I'm not really sure but he's finally sitting up, you should go talk to him. Oh and Morgan" he said… "Yeah" she answered… "He's really missed having you around. We all have" Randy told her.

Morgan smiled and thanked Randy again for his help and sat down next to John and put her hand on his shoulder. John looked up and smiled when he saw her.

"Hey there" she said. "You look like crap" she laughed.

"Still think you're funny I see. Nice to know some things never change" he replied.

"Come on, let's get you out of this ring shall we" Morgan said as she helped him stand and he draped an arm over her shoulder. They walked to the backstage area and Morgan took him to the locker rooms and instructed him to lie down while she went to find an ice pack for his head.

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_**11:30pm- Outside John's hotel room**_

Morgan laughed at John while he tried to get his key card to unlock the door and finally just as he was getting ready to give up she grabbed it from him.

"Here, let me help ya out Cena" she said as she stuck the card in the slot, pulled it back out and slapped down on the handle to the door just as the light hit green and the door opened instantly. She beamed at John brightly and he just gave her a sleepy smile.

"Thanks" he said. "I think I'm gonna get to bed but I'll give ya a call tomorrow and maybe we can do lunch or something" he asked her.

"Sure, just call my office in the morning and let me know what time" she told him. Morgan had begun working for a law firm in Boston after she had taken the bar earlier than expected.

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow then, goodnight" he told her. She smiled and said "good night Cena", and walked back to her car outside the hotel.

Morgan got back to her apartment that night a little before midnight and found a message on her answering machine left less than a half hour ago.

"_Hey Morgan, it's John. Thanks for helping out earlier. I know you told me to call you over at the firm tomorrow morning but I figured I'd call you now too. You probably just got home huh… sorry for keeping you awake longer… anyways, I figured we'd get together around noon, say 12:15 if that's good for you. I've got the whole day free really so it doesn't matter when for me. Well I guess I'll let you go for the night. See ya tomorrow, bye." _

Morgan smiled… he couldn't even make it twelve hours without calling. _Sometimes that man is so predictable_ she thought as she picked up the phone and called the hotel.

"Hilton hotel how can I help you" she heard the receptionist say.

"Hi could you connect me to room 157 please. It's John Cena's room, I'm sure he's expecting my call. My name is Morgan" she told the desk clerk. Morgan heard the young woman giggle on the other end.

"Yes he is Miss. He told the front desk to patch you through as soon as you called" she said, "hold on one moment please" she finished and Morgan heard the click and the ringing of the phone again a second later.

"Hullo" she heard a tired John say.

"You just couldn't help yourself could you…" she said. She heard John laugh a little before he said anything.

"Hey Morgan. I didn't mean you needed to call me back. I just figured it would be easier than trying to call your office at ten in the morning. I know places can get pretty busy and to be honest sometimes secretaries don't believe its really me when I call…" he said.

"Oh really… and do you make it a habit of calling random girls at work, because I'm sure Liz would have a problem with that" she said and cringed when she heard John groan at the mention of his wife.

"Oh… I have a feeling Liz is a touchy subject lately. Anything you want to talk about?" she asked him. John sighed… he hadn't wanted to get into this with Morgan but if he'd learned anything about her it was that she didn't let things go that easily. She'd bug him until he told her what was up.

"No… not tonight anyways, I'll talk to you about tomorrow at lunch. There's not enough time right now. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know what time I'd be by to get ya for lunch so if there isn't anything else I'll let you get to sleep and I'll see ya tomorrow kay…" he said, hoping she would let him off the hook for the night.

"Alright, but you better tell me what's going on tomorrow. Oh and I have something to ask you too, a favor of sorts but we'll talk about that tomorrow too. Goodnight John" she told him and they hung up.

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_**12pm- Morgan's Office **_

_**The next day…**_

John walked up to the receptionist's desk in the main office and waited patiently for her to get off the phone.

"Hi, how can I help you sir" the young receptionist smiled at John.

"Hi. I'm here to see Morgan Barlow" he told her. "We're going out to lunch" he said. The young woman frowned slightly for a second before pasting on a big smile again and said "okay, she's in the first block of offices on your left. Just go inside and ask the receptionist there and she'll let Ms. Barlow know you're here" she told him. He thanked her and walked down the hall and repeated the sequence with the next receptionist who picked up a phone and dialed Morgan's office.

Morgan saw the light blinking indicating she had a call from the main office waiting on the line and quickly picked up the phone.

"Hi Sherry, what can I do for you" she said to her secretary.

"Ms. Barlow, there's a young man here to see you. He says you two have a lunch date today" Sherry said a little hint of excitement in her voice. Sherry had been constantly trying to set Morgan up with some of her single male friends for the past month and seeing John come in asking for her almost killed her from shock. Morgan wasn't the type to date; at least that's how Sherry thought of her after Morgan had explicitly told her to stop setting her up on blind dates.

"Oh yes, that must be John. Tell him to come back to my office I have a few things that need finishing up before I can go" she told Sherry.

"Sure thing Ms. Barlow," Sherry hung up the phone and turned to John. "You can go in. Her office is the second door on the right" she told him.

John smiled and thanked Sherry and made his way back to Morgan's office. Morgan heard John knocking on the door and got up from her desk, straightened her skirt and walked to the door.

John was just reaching up to knock again when the door suddenly opened.

"Hi John, you're early. Come on in, I have to finish up a brief really quick before we can leave if that's alright" she told him.

"Uh… sure that's fine" he replied. John stared at Morgan in her skirt and suit jacket. He'd never seen her look so… professional before but she looked good. He hadn't really remembered much from the night before since the slight concussion had left him in a bit of a fog but here standing in front of her he realized how much he really had missed her over the past two months. She had lost a little bit of weight and her hair was a little darker than before.

John watched her as she finished up her work and then she looked up and smiled.

"You ready to go, I just need to print this out and leave it with Sherry and I'm all set" she said.

"Yup, I'm ready if you are" he told her. Morgan stood up and went to her closet to get her coat, grabbed her document and motioned to the door.

-------------------------------------------

Thirty minutes later John and Morgan sat at a small restaurant about a block from her office and waited for their food.

"So… what's going on with Liz, you seemed really bothered last night on the phone when I brought her up" said Morgan. She watched John carefully when she asked and saw him sigh and fidget with his wedding ring a little.

"John, you can talk to me you know that right" she asked him. He looked up and sighed again.

"Yeah I know. She's just… being unreasonable that's all. Every time we talk on the phone she seems fine but when I go home to see her all we do is fight and the other day I told her I was going to come and visit you and she acted like you were the anti-Christ. I don't know if it's because she doesn't trust me or if she just doesn't like you but I don't know why she wouldn't it's not like you've done anything to make her hate you… you've never even met each other…" he continued on telling Morgan about all the things that were going on with Liz and how it'd gotten worse and worse since Morgan went home to Boston. When he was finally finished, he looked up at Morgan and she looked shocked.

"I'm sorry John. I had no idea it was this bad. I don't want to come between the two of you at all. I… um… look maybe I should go…" she got up from the table and through some cash down to cover her part of the bill and walked away quickly.

John sat there stunned for a second and then realized what was going on and quickly followed Morgan out of the restaurant after paying the bill. He stepped outside and looked down both directions of the sidewalk and saw Morgan about to step into a cab about a hundred feet away.

"Morgan, wait…"he called out… he ran and jumped in the cab at the last second as Morgan told the driver to take her back to her apartment.

"John please… don't bother. It's obvious that I'm causing a problem with your wife. Why I don't really know but I'd rather not be the cause of anything bad happening to your marriage so just don't bother okay" she told him.

He looked at her like she had three heads… "Morgan this isn't your fault no matter what Liz says. We're friends and there's no reason for us to stop being friends even if she's acting like there is" he said.

"But, you said it yourself all this started after I won that stupid contest" she said as the driver pulled up to her apartment. She handed the driver her fare and quickly got out of the cab, John following close behind.

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John followed Morgan into her apartment and watched as she kicked off her shoes and sat down on the couch with her head in her hands. He approached slowly and sat down next to her and ran his hands through his hair. Morgan heard him sigh and looked up.

"I'm sorry… I'm being irrational. I just don't want people to think that your marriage is falling apart or that I'm the reason for it because that's not what I want to happen. I just…" she sighed. "You're the first friend I've had in a long time and I guess I'm just a little insecure in that department…" she looked up at John and continued to explain "I know she doesn't like me but she's your wife, I don't want you to lose her just because you met someone you wouldn't have met if it hadn't been for a contest at work. I don't want us to stop being friends but if that's what has to happen so your marriage can stay together then I'm willing to do that for you. I'll be fine on my own, besides I've got Carla and she'll always have my back if I need her." Morgan started to tear up a little at the thought of never seeing John again and she got up and walked to her kitchen leaving John sitting on her couch dumbfounded.

"Wait a minute… are you saying you don't want to be friends anymore, because if you think I'm letting that happen you're insane…" Morgan heard him say as he followed her into the kitchen where she sat at the table nursing a glass of wine. She looked up from her glass and smiled weakly.

"I don't know… maybe it's for the best" she tried. "I mean it's not like either of us would really miss that much in the long run…you have tons of friends that travel with you on the road and I have work that keeps me pretty busy…" John put up his hand to stop her at that.

"Stop, this is ridiculous. We don't need to stop being friends. I need to talk to Liz and you need to stop talking crazy-talk and we both just need to enjoy the rest of the time we have before I go back on the road this Friday okay."

Morgan nodded and wiped a tear from her eye, took a deep breath, finished her glass of wine and walked back out to the living room and turned on the television. She sat down on the couch and felt John sit beside her a moment later. She turned to look at him and found him staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you alright, you got really bent out of shape just now" he asked her.

"Yeah I'm alright… I just… it's a long story I guess I took it out on you because I thought that…never mind" she said.

"Morgan tell me what's going on… why are you so upset by this" John asked her. Morgan sighed and walked over to a desk in her living room and pulled out a small book and a white envelope. She handed them to John and sat down without a word.

John took the book first and opened it. It was a photo album full of pictures of Morgan and a few other people one of which he recognized as Carla. The two other men in the picture he'd never seen before and he was sure Morgan had never mentioned them. He flipped through the pictures and as he got to the end, the pictures were all of Morgan and one of the men from the previous pictures. The last picture was the two of them in front of Boston University. Morgan was wearing her graduation robes and holding a bachelor's diploma while the man was holding her in his arms and had her hat on his head. Morgan was grinning like a fool in the picture.

John closed the book and picked up the envelop and read the card that was inside. He knew in an instant what had Morgan so upset. He turned to look at her and saw the tears falling down her face.

"This guy… Josh… he left didn't he?" John asked.

Morgan sighed. "Not exactly, we were friends for years and then during college we kind of drifted apart a little but I didn't think anything of it really until just after at last picture was taken. He met this girl and he just took off to Manhattan with her and that was last time I ever saw him. He stopped visiting after a few months and stopped calling shortly after that. He sent me an email two years ago saying that he and Brittany were serious about each other and that he wouldn't let anything come between them and since she didn't like the friendship he and I had, he had to stop keeping in touch. I didn't know what else to do so I just wished him a good life and said that I'd be fine. Then this came in the mail. I'm absolutely sure she sent it just to torture me because there's no way he would have gotten her to agree to invite me out of the kindness of her heart" she explained.

Morgan went on to explain that the wedding was that weekend and she'd already sent her RSVP if anything just to see Carla again. That and Josh's mother had called and asked her to come to the wedding so they could see her again. Once she was finished talking John sat back seemingly deep in thought.

After a few minutes, he spoke up. "So, you think that because this happened once before that I'll let Liz tell me not to be your friend…" he said more to himself than to Morgan.

"Tell you what, I don't know how to show you that I won't let that happen but I do know of a way to help you get through this wedding… I'll go with you" he said to Morgan, "if you want me to."

Morgan looked up and smiled for the first time in hours. "You would… really" she asked him.

"Of course I would. I don't have to leave until Monday morning at the latest so it's no problem really. I'd love to go and besides, I think you could use the moral support and maybe it'll show this Josh guy that you're alright without him around, what do ya say" he said back.

Morgan smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes and reached over to hug John. "I'd love that" she told him. "Good then it's settled" he replied, "now, what should we do the rest of the day" he asked.

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_**Saturday August 22**__**nd**___

_**New York City **_

_**The Plaza Hotel**_

John made his way to Morgan's room down the hall. They had flown up to New York City on Thursday morning and spent the next two days sight-seeing and shopping for Morgan's dress for Josh's wedding. Now, one hour before the wedding was supposed to start in the ballroom downstairs, John stood at Morgan's door and breathed in deep.

Just as he was about to knock, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He picked it up and saw that it was Liz calling… again. She'd called three times already over the last two days.

"Hello" he said.

"Hi John, what are you up to now" he heard her ask.

"Liz I told you, I'm going to the wedding with Morgan today. I was about to go get her because it starts in an hour. Don't you remember, I told you this yesterday when you called, and the day before that and before that too" he said.

"Oh yeah I guess I figured that you'd change your mind or something" she replied. John sighed loudly.

"Liz I'm not getting into this with you again. We already talked about it and I've told you a dozen times that Morgan is just a good friend and I'm not going to kick her to the curb just because you're insecure or something. You're my wife and I love you but I won't have you treating my friends like dirt especially the one's you've never met before" he told firmly. "I have to go, Morgan's waiting for me. I'll call you later tonight alright" he said.

Liz sighed on the other end of the phone. "Alright, I'll talk to you later. I love you too" she said. "Have a good time I guess" she told him and hung up.

_Jesus… it never ends _thought John. _She's never gonna get over this; I guess I should just get used to it…_

John knocked on the door to Morgan's room and heard her walking around inside. Morgan unlocked the door from the inside and opened it to see John standing on the other side in a pair of khaki slacks and a light blue button up shirt. He smiled at Morgan who was wearing the dress he'd picked out for her at Macy's the day before.

"You look great. Josh won't know what hit em" he said laughing.

Morgan blushed. "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself though. I have a feeling most people will be more interested in seeing you than me" she replied.

"Oh god I hope not. I wouldn't want to detract from the wedding… do you think it'll be a problem" he asked her. Morgan just smiled at him with a mischievous grin.

"No, I don't think so" she said slyly.

"Morgan what did you do" said John watching her intently as she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse.

"Who me, well… I paid the guards to keep the crazy fans out and I informed everyone in the wedding party and the guests by slipping a note underneath their doors here at the hotel that you were my date and if they mobbed you I would sue them for assault or something like that. Today is about Josh and Brittany and as much as I don't like the idea of this wedding I'm not about to let anything ruin it… even crazy fans" she said grinning.

John just shook his head and laughed. "You're crazy woman" he said. "Let's go before we're late psycho."

"Hey, I resent that… I am not psycho… I just employ creative solutions" she said laughing at him.

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_**It's my pleasure to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Williamson…**_

Morgan remembered three things from the ceremony as a whole. Four if you count that fact that John and Carla sat with their arms around her the whole time to keep her from bolting out of the church. She remembered the preacher asking if there was anyone who felt the two should not be married, she remembered Josh and Brittany saying "I do" and she remembered the kiss that sealed the deal. Other than that it was all a blur. She did her best not to cry watching her former best friend getting married to someone completely wrong for him but she bit her tongue. It wasn't her place to tell him he was making a mistake anymore…

She sat in the plaza's huge ballroom at the table just slightly picking at her food and sighing over and over again. True to their word the guards at the hotel had kept the fans at bay and only a few of the guests had bothered him after the reception had started. Carla sat with Morgan while John talked wrestling with a few of the guys at the reception.

"Hey girl… you're gonna bore a hole into that table if you keep staring so hard" she heard Carla say.

"Sorry… I know I'm supposed to be having fun but I'm not sure what to do" she said. "I want to tell him everything I've been waiting three years to tell him but now just isn't the time but on the other hand I'll probably never get the chance again" she sighed heavily and looked over to where Josh and Brittany sat and saw Brittany staring at her with what could only be described as a evil grin on her face. That did it for Morgan. She turned to Carla and the look in Morgan's eyes was one of pure hatred.

"Carla… go get John. I have something I need to handle and then we're leaving" she said coldly.

"Morgan, please don't overreact. She's overbearing and evil we know this but this is Josh's wedding, please don't do anything mortifying" she begged her friend and then watched silently as Morgan stood up and walked towards Brittany and Josh at the head table. Carla quickly rushed over to John as fast as she could.

"John, something's gonna go down and it could be big. I think you should get Morgan's things and be ready to get out of here as soon as possible" she told him.

"What, what are you talking about Carla" John asked and Carla directed his attention to where Morgan was headed. He saw the look on her face and instantly knew why Carla was so concerned.

"Oh man… this could be very bad" he said. "Carla you get her things, I'll go diffuse this as best I can alright" he told her and Carla nodded and headed over to gather Morgan's purse from the table.

"Hello Josh. Congratulations" Morgan said coldly. "Thanks for inviting me Brittany. I'm really enjoying myself" she told his wife.

"Morgan!" Josh stood up shocked. "I didn't know you were coming. I'm … um… it's good to see you again" he stammered.

"Oh don't look so surprised. Brittany didn't tell you she invited me so she could watch me squirm, hmm why does that not surprise me" she said.

"Look Morgan, this is my wedding and Josh is my husband so why don't you take your stupid sob story about your lost friendship and walk away" Brittany said and laughed. "You're so pathetic… I can't believe you even had the guts to show up here" she said.

"Britt that's enough" said Josh. "No Josh she's right… it's obvious that you didn't care enough to keep in touch after you left and you let her dictate your life already so why should I bother listening to what you have to say. You've lied to me for years now and I have no reason to believe a word that comes out of your mouth. I came here to tell you that and that's the only reason. I let you have all the power for so long but I'm taking it back. I don't want to hear from you ever again so you can stop pretending to feel guilty because it's obvious you don't really care anyway" she said.

Just then, John walked up behind Morgan and touched her arm lightly.

"Hey" he said. "Come on, let's go… you don't need to do this, it's not important" he tried.

She turned around and hugged him tightly. "Yes I do. This is something I have to do to let go, can you understand that" she asked him. John sighed, "Alright… I'm right here" he told her.

Josh tried to reach out to Morgan but she pulled her arm away quickly.

"Don't touch me" she yelled at him. "You lost that right a long time ago" she said. "Morgan I'm sorry…" Josh tried again. "No you're not. If you were sorry you wouldn't have stopped calling, you would have visited… you…" she started to break down. "You would have cared…" she said before the tears started to fall. "I couldn't visit you. I was busy… I had a lot of business trips and I was on the road a lot in the beginning and." Morgan stopped him right there.

"That's a load of crap and you know it. John's on the road almost 365 days a year, he works his ass off on national television and yet he still manages to call me or email me every week and this is the first time he's been back to Boston since we met and the first thing he did was come to visit me. How can you say you're busier than he is and yet you still couldn't visit…" she said. Morgan scrunched up her face and pinched the bridge of her nose to try to keep the tears from falling more.

"I don't know what happened to you but I'm finished trying to figure it out. I don't have time for you or your wife's insecurity anymore. Have a nice life Josh, I mean that…" she told him and handed him the wedding present she brought. It was the picture of her and Josh at her graduation. She put it in a silver frame with the words "best friends" etched into the top. She turned to John and he put his arm around her waist and led her towards the door.

John walked her back up to her room and sat down on the bed while she changed in the bathroom. She walked out of the bathroom in a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt. John watched her as she slowly took the pins out of her hair and wiped her running makeup off her face. She stopped for a second and put her hand to her cheek to brush away a fresh tear and sat down on the bed opposite John's.

John was quiet for a few minutes and then he moved to sit next to her. He reached out and moved her hair from her face. "It's a stupid question but, are you alright" he asked. Morgan sniffled and chuckled lightly. "I'll be alright John. Thanks for coming with me. I don't think I could have gotten through today without you and Carla both" she replied. He smiled back and hugged her. "Hey I wouldn't have missed that for the world. I wonder if they'll tell that story to the grandkids" he said. Morgan exploded with laughter at John's joke and he smiled. "That's more like it" he said. They spent the rest of the night laughing and joking together until close to midnight when Morgan finally drifted off to sleep.

_Oh man what a day… _John thought. He set the alarm on the clock so they could be up to catch their flight, turned out the lights and fell asleep himself.

**A/N: So there's chapter six… hope you guys liked it. The next chapter will be about six months in the future and John and Liz will start to unravel slowly… you'll have to read to see what happens. Keep up with the reviews, I love knowing you guys are enjoying the story. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I've had chapter seven in my head for the past few days but I couldn't get it down on paper till now. When we last left John and Morgan they had just gotten back from the wedding from hell and they were set to part ways again for a while. I said I would only skip six months but I think I might go for about eight months instead. For everyone who's been waiting for John and Liz to break up/divorce, sit tight because here it comes!**

**Chapter Seven- Eight Months Later**

**Boston Massachusetts**

Eight months had passed since John and Morgan last saw each other. They had kept in touch frequently by phone most of the time and by email when phone wasn't possible. Morgan watched every edition of Raw and every pay-per view and checked all the information she had trying to find out when John would be back to Boston again. He had been close a few times, doing house shows near the area and a couple of live Raw shows as well but Morgan always had work to do or John would have to leave right away to go to another show or home to Florida to visit Liz. Morgan couldn't help but feel a little neglected but she knew that he loved his job and his wife and it was unfair of her to ask him to give up any time for either of them just to visit her.

Today however, was different. April 23rd… for the past 10 months she had gotten to know quite possibly one of the greatest men she had ever met in her life and today was his birthday. Morgan was determined to do something nice for him even if he was halfway around the country…

**Tulsa, Oklahoma **

**2 Days away from Backlash**

John sat in his hotel room alone again on his birthday. He had gotten used to spending them alone most of the time but it still wasn't any fun. He would have normally expected Liz to call him but the fight they'd had just two days before was still ringing in his ears and he figured she didn't want to talk to him yet but the fact that no one had called, not even Morgan really seemed to bother him.

He and Liz had of course been fighting about Morgan… again. It was ridiculous really, or at least John thought it was. He and Morgan were only friends and Liz was just jealous for some stupid reason. Had John had feelings for Morgan, other than platonic feelings, then maybe Liz would have something to be worried about but that was highly unlikely… or_ is it… _John thought to himself.

_Wait, no that's ridiculous. I can't possibly have feelings for Morgan, I'm married for god's sakes…_ he thought to himself…

"Then why can't you stop thinking about her" he said to himself. "This is ridiculous… I do not have feelings for Morgan, she's like my best friend, and Liz is my wife granted a jealous one at that but she's still my wife… I can't have feelings for anyone else I just can't" he said out loud. _But you do…_ that nagging little voice in his head told him.

John paced about the room for close to twenty minutes when all of a sudden there was a heavy knock on the door. He got up and slowly walked over to the door, unlocked it and swiftly pulled it open. He was prepared to tell whoever it was to just go away and leave him alone, that he didn't need housekeeping, hadn't ordered room service or god forbid if it was a fan-girl that he wasn't interested in a one night stand, but when he opened the door he stared straight ahead in shock.

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"Liz this is completely ridiculous can we please not fight on my birthday… for once" John pleaded with his wife over the telephone.

"No John, I'm tired of this… she's all you talk about lately and I feel like you don't give a damn about me anymore" a very irate Liz said on the other line.

"Liz, honey you know that's not true. Morgan is not all I talk about but she is my friend and I do care about her and I'm sorry that you don't like her although I don't really understand it all that much. It's not like she's done anything bad to you, she's been nothing but supportive of me and despite all the nasty things you might say about her, she's never said a bad word about you at all. In fact, for a while she couldn't wait to meet you, she thought the two of you would make great friends. Why can't you just accept that I have friends who are girls who aren't you? Why does everything have to be a big argument with us lately? Why, for the love of God, do we have to do this now… on my birthday of all days?!" he yelled into the phone.

_2 hours earlier…_

John stood at the door dumbfounded. He couldn't think of a word to say. Just two seconds ago he was depressed that all his friends had seem to have forgotten his birthday and now, standing in front of him, was Morgan, with a bag of movies and snacks and a duffle bag packed with enough clothes and supplies to last until after Backlash in two days.

"Happy Birthday John!" Morgan grinned wildly at John.

"I… uh… wow. Morgan, I wasn't expecting this. Though I guess it explains why you didn't call huh" he quickly recovered from his shock and let her into the room.

"What are you doing here if you don't mind my asking" he asked her. She looked at him and smiled.

_God I hate when she does that… her smile kills me… _he thought. Somehow he managed to register what it was she had said to him.

"Well, I figured I didn't have much for work this weekend since I quit my job last week and I said… 'What the hell' and hopped on a plane. Then I called Randy and he told me where you guys were staying so I grabbed a cab and hauled my ass over here" she told him.

"Wait, go back… you quit your job!" he asked surprised. This certainly wasn't like the Morgan he knew. She would never do something so drastic without consulting those closest to her. "What happened" he asked.

Morgan looked at him strangely. "What do you mean" she asked him.

"I mean, why did you quit, and why didn't you tell me sooner… you don't make big decisions without talking to people first… I'm just confused" he said. He was genuinely curious as to why she would have just quit out of nowhere.

Morgan had started smiling again. "Well" she started… "I have a surprise for you, another birthday present if you will" she said. "You see, I got a call about a month ago for a job opportunity that I just couldn't pass up so I put in my 'two weeks' as they say, packed some stuff and headed to Connecticut for a week or so. I took the Connecticut Bar Exam, passed with flying colors and now…" she reached into her duffle bag and pulled out a letter which she handed to John, "I work for WWE's litigation department" she finished.

John read the letter three times before it finally sank in what she was telling him. She worked for WWE corporate but worked mostly on the personal legal needs of the Superstar's and other employees and thus, would be traveling with the company for about 90 percent of the time she worked for them. Apart from appearing for hearings and monthly board meetings, she would be on the road, all the time. John felt dizzy with excitement. His best friend would be back on the road with him almost all the time.

_This can't possibly get any better…_ he thought. He looked up at Morgan and realized she had been waiting for his reaction this whole time.

_Oh no… he's not happy. Maybe this was a mistake, I shouldn't have told the firm I was leaving for good… maybe I should have waited to see how John would react to me being here all the time…_Morgan's thoughts ran wild as she waited for a reaction from John. Finally he looked up at her and smiled brightly.

John grinned like a fool and enveloped Morgan in a hug that made her heart jump into her throat. She hated how his hugs could do that to her.

"I'm so happy… this is the best birthday present ever" he told her. "My best friend is gonna be here every day… how could this possibly get any better right now" he said still hugging her.

"John… I can't breathe" she said laughing a little. "Oh sorry…" he said.

"I should call Liz and tell her. This is awesome" he finished. Morgan died just a little inside just then.

"Yeah, probably… I'm gonna go get something to eat downstairs I think… and maybe go say hi to some of the girls later I guess" she told him. John nodded happily and handed her a room key so she wouldn't have to knock when she came back.

"See ya later" he said. "Yeah, later Cena" she replied and walked out the door.

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"God damn-it John, why does she have to be on such a pedestal with you" Liz screamed. "You make it seem like she can't do anything wrong, for god sakes she probably begged Vince to give her a job so she could be on the road with you" she said. "She's only doing it because she wants to break us up… she's only interested in you for your money and the faster she gets me out of the way, the faster she can use you to get what she wants" Liz yelled.

"Liz, that's enough!" John yelled. He rarely ever really yelled at Liz, or anyone for that matter but what she was saying about Morgan made his blood boil and he wasn't sure why. He knew she could take care of herself but he felt the need to defend his friend to his wife.

"She is not like that" he said, "She's kind and smart and funny and she deserves this job more than half the people on WWE's payroll because she's damn good at what she does. Besides she's not interested in me for anything other than a friend so I don't know where you get off saying she wants me for my money. She's never asked me for a dime and even when I offer to pay for things for her she keeps refusing until she's blue in the face" he went on. "You have no right to say those things about her and I'm done talking to you until you admit that you're being ridiculous and jealous and forget this whole stupid vendetta you have against someone who's done nothing to you" he finished telling her.

Liz was quiet for a few moments and then she spoke.

"John, do you love her?" she asked quietly.

"WHAT! What the hell kind of question is that… Jesus Liz, NO I do not love Morgan, she is a friend, nothing more and nothing less and yes, we're close, but for god sakes you are my wife. Don't you think you could at least trust me a little bit?" John was furious by now.

"You know what, just forget it, I don't want to talk to you anymore right now" he told her. "Call me when you're done being ridiculous" he said and hung up the phone.

John sighed heavily and looked down at the wedding band on his left hand. He ran his hands through his hair and sat down on the bed. He looked at the phone in his hand and threw it against the wall and then collapsed on the bed.

Morgan stood silently in the doorway, her breath caught in her throat. She had heard John defending her to his wife and the horrible things she had said about her were finally revealed. She'd watched John as he eyed his wedding ring and destroyed his phone and collapsed into his bed without saying a word. He hadn't noticed she was there yet. Morgan tried to tiptoe out the door again but the minute she opened it, John heard the click and sat bolt upright in the bed.

"Morgan" he called out to her. "I didn't expect you back so soon" he said quietly, trying to pretend he'd been napping. He watched Morgan carefully and saw her shoulders heave and jumped up from his spot on the bed and was standing in front of her less than two seconds later.

"How much did you hear" he asked her cautiously. "I heard enough to know I don't belong here" she replied. "You keep telling me that I'm not causing a problem but you're lying to me. I am the problem… and the only way to fix it is for me to go away, forever" she told him.

He looked at her and he felt his eyes bug out of his skull. "That is not the only way to fix this. Liz is insecure, she's acting crazy right now, eventually she's gonna realize that you're not here to steal me away and that I love her and I'm not leaving her" he told Morgan. "Please don't leave, you've got a great job lined up and I'd never forgive myself if I let you walk away from something I know you really want to do" he said.

"Yeah, but…" Morgan started. "No yeah, buts" he countered. "Just promise me you won't let her insecurities intimidate you this much. We're friends and I'm not letting anything get in the way of that, you need to realize that and you need to do it sooner rather that later" he told her.

Morgan smiled slowly and hugged John tightly. "Thank you John" she said. "For what" he asked her.

"For sticking up for me, for being my friend… just everything" she said and hugged him again, a hug he gladly returned.

"So is this still the best birthday ever" she asked him, smiling. He laughed and nodded. "Absolutely, wouldn't have had it any other way, except maybe I wouldn't have fought with my wife but well… you can't win 'em all" he said chuckling.

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_**4 Months Later…**_

_**August 2010**_

Morgan had adjusted to life on the road again mighty quickly and she absolutely loved her new job. Being around everyone again had been refreshing and she even got to see Carla more often now since Florida was not only where John's home was, but also a very frequent stop on WWE tours.

_Knock knock knock… _Morgan heard loud, persistent knocking and knew instantly who was at the door. There was only one person who knocked that way, and only one reason he would be doing it. Morgan looked at the clock… _7am… I am so going to kill John for this later_ she thought. She crawled out of bed and threw on her hotel robe and answered the door slowly.

"Good morning John, what has Liz done now" Morgan asked incredulously.

"How did you know it was me… and Liz?" he asked her. Morgan rolled her eyes and let him in the room.

"John, every time you show up at odd hours, knocking incessantly like you just were, it's ALWAYS you and Liz" Morgan said. "So sit down and tell me what happened this time" she told him. It was then that she noticed the somber look on his face and she was instantly concerned.

Morgan patted the spot on the bed next to her. John slowly walked over and sat down and put his head in his hands. Morgan placed her hand on his back and rubbed it slowly and he lifted his eyes to meet hers slowly. Morgan could see tears forming in his eyes.

"Johnny… what's wrong. Please tell me" she said. Morgan only called him Johnny under extreme circumstances. He very rarely let anyone call him that and to that day Liz had never called him Johnny. He broke down at the sound of her calling his name that way and couldn't speak so he simply handed her a small manila envelope addressed to him from the Orange County Court in Orlando Florida.

Morgan opened the envelope silently willing it to not be what she already knew was inside it. Inside was a stack of papers and the top paper said all Morgan needed to know: _Petition for Divorce…_ she read. Liz had filed for divorce from John citing infidelity and abandonment on his part. Morgan stuffed the papers back into the envelope and threw them onto the nearest table. Angry was an understatement, not only had Liz filed for divorce, she had alleged that John was unfaithful and named Morgan as the other woman, no angry definitely hadn't done justice to the outrage she felt at this moment.

After five minutes of watching Morgan seethe silently, John finally spoke up.

"Morgan, I'm so sorry I got you involved in all of this" he said softly. She turned to him and the anger her eyes instantly faded away.

"John, don't be sorry. Liz did this… not you and she's not getting away with it that's for sure. I can't be your lawyer on this one because I'm named in the suit but I'll make sure the WWE gets its best lawyers on it right away. She won't get a dime from you and I will NOT let her drag your name or mine through the mud like this" she finished.

Morgan sat down next to John and held him close for a while and when he finally seemed to be regaining control a little, she let him go and grabbed her cell phone. She placed a quick call to WWE headquarters and spoke to Vince about getting his team of lawyers to look over the claims and find ways to debunk them and then placed a second call to Carla in Florida.

After three rings, Carla finally picked up. "Hey girl! Long time no talk" she said.

"Hey Carla, this isn't a social call I'm afraid. I need a favor" she told her best friend. "Anything you need I'm your girl" Carla told her.

John watched and listened as Morgan relayed the relevant facts to Carla and asked her to get information on Liz's lawyers and the judges who were currently serving the County Court in Orlando so she would have some idea of what they were up against.

"Wow, that's a big favor but I'll get in touch with some of my friends at City Hall and see what I can find out for you" she said. "How's John taking it" she asked. Morgan cringed slightly… "Well, I guess he's taking it about as well as anyone would take something like this I suppose" she told her friend.

"Yeah that's to be expected I guess" she said. "Well, I'll make some calls and then I'll call you back later today when I know some more information" Carla finished. "Tell John I'm sorry and I'll do everything I can to help you guys out" she said.

"Thanks girl. I appreciate it. I'll tell him" Morgan said. She hung up and relayed what Carla had told her to John and twenty minutes later she got a phone call from Vince letting her know that his lawyers had determined that both John and Morgan would have to take the stand and defend themselves against the allegations of infidelity and that they should both go to the press and make a statement before Liz beat them to it. He had also informed that her allegations of abandonment had no ground to stand on because John's job had him traveling almost every day of the year and Liz knew this full well when she agreed to marry him.

Morgan and John agreed to do separate press conferences the following day that would be aired on every major news network in the country and both of them had agreed to take lie detector tests to disprove the allegations as well.

_**The next day**_

_**WWE Headquarters **__(A/N: Bold is the press conference)_

_**Stamford Connecticut**_

"**Ladies and Gentleman, we've gathered you all here today to address the ridiculous claims being made against one of our WWE Superstars in regards to the recent news of his impending divorce. Here to dispel those rumors and allegations, John Cena and Morgan Barlow." **

Vince left the stage while John and Morgan made their way to the microphones. Morgan silently thanked him and shook his hand.

"**Mr. Cena" said a reporter from E! Entertainment News, "your wife's petition for divorce contains a claim that you were unfaithful to her, and that Ms. Barlow is in fact the 'other woman' referred to in those claims. Can you comment on the claims and the relationship between you and Ms. Barlow?" the reporter finished. **

"**All I can say is that I am deeply saddened that Elizabeth would take things this far and implicate an innocent woman in all of this as well. I can tell you the claims of infidelity are 100 percent false and that Ms. Barlow and I are only good friends. I only hope that all of you don't buy into this hype and that my fans will continue to support me during this difficult time in my life" John said. **

**The reporter turned to Morgan next. "Ms. Barlow…can you add anything to Mr. Cena's comments" the reporter asked. Morgan smiled warmly and began her tirade. She had prepared for an hour beforehand for this exact question. **

"**Thank you for asking that sir. Yes I can comment on these allegations. They are as John said completely and utterly false. John and I are simply good friends and the very idea that the soon to be ex Mrs. Cena continues to insist that they have merit simply proves to me what I've suspected all along. Mrs. Cena is selfish, she is jealous and she is only concerned with getting her day in court rather than listening to her loving husband who only wanted to make things work with her. There is and never has been a relationship between John and I and we have both agreed to a lie detector test in order to prove this. I need to say one last thing before we end this press conference. If someone could get a close up shot I'd be very grateful." **

**One of the cameras zoomed in on Morgan's face and she directed her gaze into that particular camera. **

"**Elizabeth Huberdeau-Cena, you are despicable. I tried to befriend you, I tried to show you that John and I were only friends but you wouldn't have anything to do with me. You listen to me and you listen well. You will not, I repeat, will NOT get away with this. John has never been unfaithful and you will not get a damn dime from him saying otherwise. I'll see you in court!" Morgan smiled for the cameras and motioned to John that it was time to go. **

"Morgan Barlow that was the single coolest most vindictive thing I think I've ever seen" said John when they had gone back inside the building.

Morgan simply smiled and said "wait till the trial, you ain't seen nothing yet" and walked away leaving John smiling for first time in over 48 hours.

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The divorce trial had lasted about two weeks and true to their word Morgan and John had passed the polygraph tests with flying colors and the judge, lacking any evidence to the contrary was forced to dismiss Liz's claims. He eventually awarded Morgan $20,000 in punitive damages for the slander and libel she had endured due to the claims, ordered Liz to pay not only her own but also John and Morgan's court costs and legal fees and granted John and Liz their divorce under irreconcilable differences.

John and Morgan were back on the road less than a week later and went out with a group of friends to celebrate the victory at a local karaoke bar in Biloxi Mississippi where they were that week.

They danced all night until about 2am and finally stumbled back to their hotel around 3 in the morning completely hammered. John walked Morgan to her room before heading to his own to get some sleep. He stopped her before she went into her room and hugged her tightly.

"Thanks Morgan. I don't think I could have made it through this without you" he said softly. Morgan laughed… "Of course you could have, but I'm glad you didn't try" she said, "if that makes any sense" she laughed again.

John looked at her strangely for a second and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Morgan smiled and released her grip on John and reached for the key card in her back pocket. She slipped it in the reader and opened the door but he stopped her from entering the room.

"Morgan, you really are great, you know that right" he asked her. She blushed and said "yeah well you're not so bad yourself."

"I'm serious" he said. "I really don't think I would have been able to go through with divorcing Liz if it hadn't been for you. I wanted to do it for the longest time but I just couldn't and then you came along and I finally had a reason to do it. She just beat me too it I guess" he laughed slightly. Morgan was unsure how to feel at that moment. She was startled out of her thoughts when she realized John had leaned down and lightly kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight Morgan" he said softly. "Thanks for everything. One of these days I'll make it up to you" he told her and walked away in the direction of his room.

Morgan sighed and entered her own hotel room… "And one of these days I'll tell you that I love you" she said softly as she collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

**A/N: So there you have it… John and Liz divorced. I wasn't going to do it this soon but I didn't really think I could drag it on anymore, besides I think it was dramatic enough for everyone. And before I get bombarded with questions, that kiss on the forehead was not some way for John to say he loves her, it was simply a cute way for him to say thank you for everything she's done for him. She however, is very much in love with him and he has yet to really admit his feelings to himself so it's still going to take some time for him to accept how he feels about her. Let me know what you guys think and I'll write the next chapter after I get some reviews for this one. I wanna make sure you guys are happy with the way this one went. **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So I have a huge change coming up for you guys… I bet you all thought John and Morgan would be together as soon as he and Liz divorced but I've got some other obstacles for our favorite WWE superstar to overcome before they can be together. Also I'd like to thank everyone for their reviews and I would also like to add that FutureWWEDiva18 will be appearing in the chapter as Sophie Williams. Hope you like it! **

**Chapter Eight**

**2 Weeks Later…**

Morgan sat in the hotel's restaurant waiting for Mickie to show up. Mickie James was one of Morgan's best friends in the company and ever since she had started traveling with WWE full time, she and Mickie had become close friends and made it a point to meet up with each other for breakfast at least once a week if possible. Mickie was usually very punctual but she was running about fifteen minutes late this morning and had texted Morgan to let her know to wait up for her.

She heard someone walking up to her and looked up hoping to see that Mickie had finally arrived but instead she saw Ted Dibiase walking towards her.

"Hey Morgan, this seat taken" he asked her.

"Actually, yeah Mickie is supposed to meet me here soon but she's a little late, you can sit there till she gets her though if you want I guess" Morgan replied.

"Cool. So how's life" he asked curiously. Morgan chuckled slightly.

"Well, now that John's divorce is finalized and all that ridiculous nonsense is over I'm just trying to put my life back together" she started. "I think most people still believe there was something going on between us, even though we both passed a polygraph. It's amazing the stupid stuff people will believe" she said. Morgan sighed and went back to nursing the cup of coffee she had been trying to drink for the past half hour.

Ted watched her carefully for a few seconds before he spoke up. "Listen, I know there was nothing going on between you and John and I think everyone else here does too so just try to ignore what everyone else says, they're ignorant and jealous would be my guess" he said and smiled at Morgan.

"Thanks Dibiase. You always know what to say" she said laughing. "Hey, what do you expect…? I'm the million dollar dream" he said laughing as well.

Morgan and Ted sat at the table laughing together for a good twenty minutes before Mickie finally showed up and Ted took his leave.

"Well, I guess I'll get going then and let you girls have your fun" he said. "Hey Morgan, would you maybe wanna grab some lunch or something later, if you're not busy I mean" he asked shyly.

Morgan smiled… "I'd love to, I can meet ya in the lobby at two if you like" she said. Ted smiled and nodded. "It's a date then" she said, "see ya later Ted" she told him and he left her and Mickie at the table.

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John watched Morgan and Dibiase sitting at the table talking and laughing and watched as he got up to leave but stopped to ask her something. He saw her smile and agree to whatever it was he had asked and watched Ted leave and head for the elevators with a noticeable spring in his step.

_Well now what the hell was that all about,_ the thought to himself. John slowly walked over to Morgan and Mickie's table and put on his biggest smile as he approached. Mickie saw him from a little farther away and signaled to Morgan that he was coming over.

"Hey, look behind you" she told her friend. Morgan turned around and smiled brightly when she saw John coming towards her. She got up and hugged him when he reached the table.

"Hey John, pull up a chair" Mickie told him. "Morgan was just telling me about her hot date this afternoon with Dibiase" she finished. Morgan shot her a look that said 'shut up now before I hurt you' and John feigned ignorance.

"Oh is that what you two were talking about just now. I saw him walking away, looked pretty happy" John said. "He knows he's lucky I guess" he said laughing.

"Lucky? Why John whatever do you mean" Morgan said with an innocent look on her face.

John chuckled again. "Oh please Morgan you know every one of the rookies is just dying to get you to go out with them" he said. Morgan blushed furiously "that's not true… and even if it were Ted's not really a rookie, he's known the business since he was in diapers and he's the same age as me… if he were younger I suppose you could say he's a rookie. Besides it's not like he's getting anything out of this, it's just a lunch date for cripes sakes" she said laughing.

John laughed, "yeah and even if he tried you know I'd personally kick his ass for messing with you" he told Morgan.

Mickie watched John and Morgan talking with a glint in her eye. Mickie was one of the few people they were friends with that understood how stubborn they were both being. She knew that Morgan liked John, she maybe even loved him, and somehow she could tell that John felt the same way about her. Mickie figured that was the reason he didn't really fight Liz on the divorce because in all honestly he didn't really want to be married to her anymore. It was like the minute he met Morgan, everyone else seemed less important to him… or so she suspected.

_This could get really interesting_ Mickie thought. _If she's going out with Ted, man this could get really bad before it gets better. I hope Ted knows what he's getting himself into_ she thought. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard John stand up and tell Morgan goodbye and walk away in the direction of the elevators. Mickie and Morgan continued their dinner oblivious of what John had on his mind as soon as he left the table.

_**John's POV**_

John caught the elevator up to the fourth floor where all the superstars were staying. He searched up and down the hall until he found the right room and knocked on the door loudly.

Dibiase answered the door and John pushed him back into the room forcefully.

"Whoa man, what the hell" he yelled as he backed away from John.

John eyed him up and down before speaking. "You listen to me alright. Morgan's a good woman and she deserves much more than any of us here can give her and I'm warning you right now if you hurt her in any way you had better learn to sprint pretty damn fast because I will hurt you, you got that?" he said.

"Dude, we're just going out to lunch and yeah I like her but I don't plan on hurting her alright man. Just relax, you're acting like you're her keeper or something, she's old enough to make her own decisions and her own mistakes isn't she" Ted replied just as forcefully. Big mistake on his part.

"Listen to me, she's my friend and I can tell she might really like you and I'm telling you now if she does like you or grows to like you, you had better take care of her because I will be damned if I let her get hurt again. She's been through enough in the past few weeks and her whole life really and she doesn't deserve the shit she gets for being my friend but she does it…" John trailed off and sighed heavily. "Just… take care of her. Please" he said and walked out.

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_**Two PM- Hotel Lobby**_

Morgan walked down to the lobby right at two o'clock and spotted Ted from across the room. He spotted her as well and wasn't surprised by how good she looked. Morgan had chosen a pair of boot cut jeans and a light blue tank top with a pair of calf-high boots and had her hair pulled up in a high ponytail and was wearing little makeup like normal but Ted couldn't help but stare for a few seconds.

"Hey Ted, you ready to go" Morgan asked as she got closer. Ted managed to pull it together and answer her with a nod. He took her hand in his and led her out the door to a taxi he had waiting to take them to a diner a couple of blocks away.

John watched in silence from the hotel bar and asked the bar tender for a beer…

Two hours later, Randy was still trying to coax John away from the bar and get him up to his room. It was only quarter to five in the afternoon but he was definitely smashed. Out of the corner of his eye Randy saw Morgan and Ted enter the hotel lobby and told John to sit tight for a few minutes.

"Hey Morgan, Ted I need your help" he yelled to them just as they were heading for the elevator. Morgan turned around and groaned slightly.

"Hey Randy, what's up" Ted asked. Morgan stood off to the side impatiently.

"It's John, he's completely smashed sitting over there in the bar and he refuses to leave. I don't know what's up with him but I was thinking maybe Morgan could talk some sense into him and get him to stop drinking for the day ya know" Randy told them.

Morgan's face distorted in almost painful expression when Randy told them about how long John had been there and how much he'd had to drink that day already and she rushed off to the bar leaving Randy and Ted standing around like idiots for a few seconds before they realized she was already gone.

_**In the hotel bar…**_

Morgan slowly approached John and sat down in the seat next to him.

"John…" she said quietly, "are you alright?" she asked. "Randy said you've been here a while…" she trailed off when he put his hand up to stop her from saying anything.

"Morgan, don't start. I'm an adult I know when I've had enough alright so just go back to your date and I'll see you later" he said coldly. Morgan looked as though she might cry and stood up slowly.

"Fine John if that's what you want I'll get out of your way and let you drink yourself into a coma if you think it'll help… I don't get what your problem is and don't tell me it's Liz because I know better. You're shutting me out and I don't know why but I'm not going to waste my time trying to pry it out of you either. I'd say you could come and find me when you figure out what your problem is but I'm not sure I want to know anyway" she told him and walked back to Randy and Ted near the elevator.

"Hey Randy. Good luck with Mr. Cold Shoulder over there. I tried to talk some sense into him and he wouldn't have it so I'm not pushing it. Call me when he's back to normal okay" she said to Randy sadly.

"Thanks for lunch Ted, it was fun. We should do it again sometime, call me later?" she asked. He smiled and nodded "absolutely I'll call you in a little while" he said. "Randy, why don't I help you try to get him to his room huh" Ted asked.

Randy was still so surprised that Morgan had just walked away like that but he figured he knew what John's problem was anyway and wasn't surprised he had been so cold to her before. "Sure" he told Ted, "can't hurt to try again I guess" he said. "We'll see ya later right Morgan" he said to her.

Morgan walked into the elevator and smiled. "Yup, see you later. For what it's worth Randy, I really do hope he's alright. Will you tell him that?" she said as the doors closed and the elevator ascended to her floor.

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_**6 Months Later…**_

Morgan and Ted had been in a serious relationship for a little over six months and now it was Valentine's Day which coincidentally happened to be a Monday as well. Ted had something up his sleeve for Raw that night, Morgan could already tell but she didn't know what it was exactly but she knew something was up. She hadn't spoken to John for more than five minutes at a time since he had so coldly brushed her off at the bar that day and though she missed him, she knew she couldn't be around him if he continued to shut her out of his life and refused to talk to her about anything.

John had taken to drinking whenever he would see Morgan and Ted together and had quietly accepted that he'd lost her because he was too stubborn to admit how he felt. There was no denying it now, John knew he loved her, he just couldn't tell her. In truth he had realized it the day he confronted Ted about the date he and Morgan had and that had been the reason he was so cold to her. He knew if he continued to be friends like they had been, it would tear him apart inside so he had opted to let her go and hope she came back to him someday rather than hurt them both by messing up her relationship with Ted.

John hated today of all days even more, he had never been a fan of Valentine 's Day but today was about to be the worst day of his life with a simple word.

Later that night, after Raw was off the air and the fans had left the arena Ted had Morgan brought out to the ring and had the crew keep the sound equipment running. He picked up a microphone and spoke.

"Morgan, I wanted to show you how much I love you but I wasn't sure how to do it until recently. I had all our friends help me out with this so…" he turned to the titantron… "If you guys could please come out here that'd be great" he said. Morgan watched as all her friends had come out to the ring, save for one she noticed was missing. _Humph… doesn't surprise me we've barely said a word to each other in six months…_ Ted reached for her hand and continued. "Morgan, you've been so wonderful every day, you support me whether I win or lose and you don't treat me like a WWE Superstar, you treat me like a regular guy and you love me not in spite of my faults but because of them. I can't possibly find anyone out there who's better for me than you are so I wanted to know something…" Ted reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a white gold ring with a heart shaped diamond on it and dropped to one knee in the ring.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… Morgan will you marry me?" he asked.

Morgan looked from Ted to the ring in his hand and almost hadn't registered what he'd asked before her eyes filled with tears and she nodded furiously. He slipped the ring on her hands and kissed her in front of all their friends in the middle of the ring and when she back out at all the smiling faces she finally saw him. John was standing next to Randy and Mickie but he wasn't smiling like everyone else was. Randy stood next to John quietly and slapped his friend on the back lightly. "You gonna be alright?" he asked John.

John gave his friend a weak smile and said "yeah man, I'm good as long as she's happy" but on the inside his heart was breaking slowly.

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_**1 Month Later…**_

"Hey Morgan, congratulations on the engagement." Morgan and Ted had only been engaged for two days but it seemed as though everyone already knew even the people who weren't close to the two of them at all. Morgan usually answered them with a "thanks" and left it that. Down the hall at the arena in Cleveland Ohio, she saw her friend Sophie talking to some of the divas and rushed over to her.

Sophie Williams was 23 and had been with the WWE wrestling on Raw for about four years now. Sophie and Morgan had become very close in the short time they'd known each other and other than Mickie, she was one of the only divas that Morgan was actually friends with.

"Hey Sophie, how's it going?" Morgan asked her friend.

"Oh hey girl! Congratulations by the way, I haven't had the change to say that yet and I know you're probably sick of hearing it but… oh well… so what's up have you guys set a date yet?" Sophie asked.

Morgan smiled warmly, "no not yet, I think we're going to wait a little while but I do need to ask you something if you don't mind" she told her.

"Sure, whatever you need" Sophie replied. "Here, we can go in the diva's dressing room and talk if you want" she told Morgan.

"No it's cool. It's not a secret or anything. I just need a favor" she said. "I was hoping that maybe you would be one of my bridesmaids when the time comes" Morgan asked. "I kind of already know the colors and stuff that I want and my sister and Mickie are already on board. My friend Carla is my maid of honor but I need a third bridesmaid and I was hoping you might be interested" she told her.

Sophie smiled. "Absolutely. I'd love to, just let me know when you need me" she told her friend happily. Morgan smiled and hugged her friend and rushed off towards the men's locker room looking for Randy. She had to ask him a favor as well…

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_**Men's Locker Room**_

"Dude, you've really got to let this go. You guys used to be so close how can let her getting married completely destroy the friendship you two had. You divorced your wife because she was badmouthing your friend for god's sake and now that she's getting married and has finally moved on with her life, as horrible as it was for her, you're acting like a jackass to her. I just don't get it man" Randy said to his friend.

"Randy, I know alright. I've heard this all before okay, I'm sick of not talking to her either but I can't face her, not yet. I've said some pretty horrible things to her and I can't imagine her even wanting to talk to me much less let me apologize, besides she has Dibiase now, he's supposed to take care of her, which means my job is done right" said John.

"No, John it doesn't mean your job is done. It means your job is only just beginning. What's going to happen when her and Ted have their first real fight after they're married or god forbid they have to get divorced, you know that would devastate her. She was so broken up about your divorce because she thought it was her fault, can you even imagine how she would feel if it were her marriage falling apart… who's she going to run to if that happens. Have you thought about that at all?" he asked.

John put his head down and sighed. "No, I haven't" he said. Randy walked towards the door and before he left he said "well maybe you should."

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Morgan saw Randy walk out of the locker room as she rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and called out to him. "Randy, hey wait up!" She jogged to catch up with him and fell into step when she reached his side.

"Hey Morgan, how's life" he asked her. She smiled but he noticed it wasn't as bright of a smile as she used to have when she and John were so close.

"It's good. I'm happy with Ted, I've got my bridesmaid all set, now I just need to set a date ya know…" she said as she trailed off. "Hey Randy, I have a question, well more of a favor I suppose" she started.

Randy eyed her curiously, they were friends sure but she'd never really asked him for anything extremely important and he had a feeling this might be one of those favors. "Okay, shoot" he said.

"Well, you know my parents died in a plane crash years ago… and so obviously my dad won't be at the wedding and he won't be able to walk me down the aisle and I was hoping you would do it instead" she said quickly. Morgan held her breath waiting for him to answer.

"Wow, that wasn't what I expected. Are you sure you want me to do it, I mean wouldn't you rather ask…" he trailed off and soon as he saw the look on her face.

"The truth is, I would have asked John but he doesn't seem to care too much about what makes me happy anymore and he's got enough going on right now I suppose so I doubt he'd even be able to" she said sadly. "Besides, what does it matter it's not like he and I are even on friendly terms anymore. I haven't forgotten how cold and distant he's been and I don't expect that to change any time soon so I'm asking you…will you please walk me down the aisle Randy" she asked again.

Randy looked up and saw John watching them from the doorway of the locker room which thankfully Morgan couldn't see. He sighed heavily, "Morgan, I'd love to I really would but it's not my place. I really think you and John should try to work things out. He might not say it but he misses you and I can tell by the look on your face that you miss him too so just go talk to him. You both are miserable and don't tell you aren't because I can tell and frankly I'm sick of being the go-between guy finding out how both of you are for the other so do me a favor and just make this go away, please" he pleaded with Morgan.

Randy walked away and left Morgan standing there confusion etched on her face. She sat down on a nearby chair and put her head in her hands and cried for the first time in almost six months. She hadn't wanted to admit how much she missed John but what Randy had said had really cut quite deep. She did miss him and the truth was she would forgive him in a second but he hadn't even bothered to talk to her much at all so she had always figured he didn't care anyway.

John watched her cry for a few seconds before slowly walking over to her. He stood beside her for a second trying to think of something to say to the woman who had once been his best friend and had brought him through one of the most difficult times of his life but he had nothing. _Come on Cena, you can do this… just say you're sorry… two words that's all and this can be over… _he thought.

Morgan must have noticed that someone was standing next to her because she looked up and saw John and sprang to her feet.

"Look, whatever you have to say, don't bother. I'm not interested in any 'I told you so' speeches or anything like that. For your information everything between Dibiase and I is fine I'm just a little stressed and I'd rather not deal with your stupid comments to…" John put his hand over her mouth to shut her up for a second so he could talk and her eyes went wide.

"I'm sorry" he said. "I was a stupid jackass to you when I should have been happy for you and I'm sorry. I know it doesn't make up for anything but I wanted you to know that I missed you because a little birdie told me you thought I didn't care" he told her. "I could go on, I could beg and plead for you to forgive me, for us to just forget this ever happened and be friends again but I won't. I'm hoping you'll forgive me and that we can be friends again but I want it to be when you're ready not because I seemed desperate or something. I'll be around if you need me. Oh, and if you want, I'd be honored to walk you down the aisle" he finished and removed his hand from her face.

Morgan felt more tears coming and quickly wiped them away and smiled at John. "I've missed you so much" she said, "and I don't care about what happened anymore, I just want everything to be normal again" she told him. John smiled back and opened his arms and Morgan gladly accepted a hug she'd been waiting almost seven months for.

John was about to speak as Morgan's phone started to vibrate in her pocket. Morgan laughed and opened it to see who was calling.

"Oh it's Ted, I should probably answer it, he must be wondering where I am I left him in catering and told him I'd be back in ten minutes…oops" she said, "just give me a sec" she told John and he nodded.

"Hi honey" he heard her say. "No, I found them I just got caught up talking to John for a few minutes. I guess I didn't realize how long I'd been gone" she said. John listened carefully to see if he could hear Dibiase's reaction to hearing that he and Morgan had worked things out.

"Yeah, he heard me talking to Randy and came over to talk and we've been trying to work things out between us" she told Ted. "Yeah I'm happy, I really am I've missed having him around" John heard. "Oh alright, I'll meet you back at the hotel then. I've still got a couple of people I wanna see before we leave if you don't mind" she said. Morgan paused and scrunched up her features a little before sighing. "Alright, I'll see you later then I guess. Love you too… bye" she said and hung up turning back to John who had a smirk on his face.

"So… ya missed me more than you let on huh" he said chuckling.

"O.K. mister… I may have missed you but you need to wipe that cocky smirk of your face right quick before I do it for you" she said while rolling her eyes. Morgan sighed heavily and sat down on the chair next to her with the phone in her hand.

"Hey, you alright" John asked her. He noticed the change in her mood almost instantly.

"Yeah I'm fine. Ted said he was leaving and I figured he was just headed back to the hotel and I'd see him later but he said something about going out to a club later and that he'd back really late so I shouldn't wait up. I know I shouldn't be concerned but it's like we're not even married yet and I'm starting to doubt him…I don't know I'm probably just being paranoid" she said laughing.

John smiled on the outside and said "yeah probably, you _are _the most paranoid person I think I've ever met." This earned him a punch to the shoulder. "Ouch, damn girl I forgot how much your punches hurt…" he said laughing. "Hey, since he's not coming back till later what do ya say to a movie and some pizza in my room later" he asked.

Morgan smiled, "that'd be great… should we invite Randy, I mean he'd be kinda annoyed knowing we'd made up and everything and didn't tell him first" she said. John chuckled a little but shook his head. "He can wait. We'll tell him everything's cool tomorrow. Meet me back here around 10:30 and I'll give you a ride back to the hotel alright" he told her. She nodded and hugged John again and smiled before she walked away. _Finally…_ he thought. _I hope we never fight again, I don't like this apologizing thing, especially to a girl like her, it'll never be easy…_ he chuckled lightly to himself before heading back to the locker room area.

Morgan and John headed back to the hotel later that night and ordered pizza as soon as they got back. John turned on the television and browsed through the HBO channels to find a good movie and finally settled on a movie he knew Morgan absolutely loved.

Morgan had just walked over with the pizza they ordered and saw the movie John had picked. "Aw Johnny, The Recruit… you sure know how to make a girl happy" she said laughing.

"Yeah well I know how much you like Colin Farrell" he said, "you sure Ted's won't get jealous" he laughed. Morgan picked up a pillow and clocked him in the head with it and they spent the next two hours eating pizza and pillow fighting and before they knew it, it was about 1am and Morgan was getting tired.

"This was fun, but I should get back. Ted might be back by now and I'll bet he's wondering where I am" she said. John frowned… "awe, do you have to go" he said sadly.

"Yeah I do… but Ted has a signing early tomorrow morning and I know you don't so why don't we meet up for breakfast or something, say around ten" she said. John smiled, "I'll be there. Wouldn't miss it for the world" he said, "now I'm gonna be a gentleman and walk you back to your room if you don't mind" he told her.

"oh geez John, I'm a big girl I can get to my room on my own" she said rolling her eyes.

"Just humor me…" he told her and led her out of the room and down the hall. "See you tomorrow" he said. Morgan smiled, "yep, see ya in the morning Johnny" she said and closed the door to her room leaving John in the hallway.

_Man I've missed her so much… _he thought as he walked back to his room.

_God, I've missed him… _she thought as she climbed into bed.

**A/N: There's chapter eight. Hope you guys liked it. Chapter nine might take a few days, I've got a lot of school work and stuff to do this week so I might not be able to get to it just yet. Don't forget to review and if you want to be in the story, send me your information and I'll do my best to write some cameos in. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So I've been thinking for the past few days trying to make a decision on how the story will progress from here and I finally figured it out. I hope you guys like it I'm trying to keep it so that there's drama but not unnecessary drama or anything that's just too over the top so let me know what you guys think… As always I own no one from the WWE or anyone affiliated with it I only own Morgan and her friends. Thanks for not suing! :D**

**Chapter Nine- Confessions**

_**Three AM- The same night…**_

Morgan paced the floor in the hotel room growing angrier by the second. Ted had told her he'd be in late but she thought he'd have been back by now, he had two signings tomorrow morning and then he had to be on a plane for a house show by three o'clock that afternoon. It was unlike Ted to be out this late and Morgan was becoming more concerned than angry.

_This is insane… where could he possibly be? I'll wait five more minutes and then I'm going to sleep…_ she thought out loud. Five more minutes passed and she couldn't take it anymore.

Morgan quickly got dressed and grabbed her keycard and cell phone and headed out into the hallway. _Maybe someone's still awake and knows where he and his buddies went tonight_… she thought. Morgan stepped out into the light of the hallway and headed down the corridor listening for anyone who might still be awake and she had almost reached the end of the hallway without any luck when she realized she was standing five feet from John's door.

_This is ridiculous there's no way John's still awake right now… still it can't hurt to try. At least I know he'd be willing to sit up with me and wait for Ted to get back…_ she thought. Morgan walked to John's door and knocked quietly. She listened but couldn't hear any movement from inside and sighed heavily before turning away to head back to her room.

"_It figures… I didn't think he'd be up anyway…" she_ said out loud. "There you go thinking again, I told you that's hazardous to your health ya know…" she heard. Morgan turned slowly and blushed furiously when she saw John standing in the doorway with nothing but his boxers and a sleepy smile on.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked quietly. She still hadn't been able to force the blush in her cheeks to fade and figured John had noticed by now but at that point she didn't care if he didn't.

"No, I was awake. You couldn't sleep either huh?" he asked in return. Morgan frowned and John noticed it. "No it's not that. Ted's not back yet and I can't reach him… I don't want to worry because he said he'd be back late but he has two signings and a late flight tomorrow… it seems odd that he would be out like this before all of that, it's very unlike him" she told John quietly.

"Come on in" he told her, "it's cold in this hallway and at least we won't have to whisper in my room" he said as he opened the door for her to come inside. Morgan walked in the room and sat on the bed opening and closing her phone repeatedly. John sat down next to her and put his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Do you wanna talk about whatever is bothering you" he asked her. Morgan looked up and he saw small tears forming in her eyes. "No" she said, "it's alright I'm just being ridiculous. I'm sure he's fine and he's probably just lost track of time or something. He'll show up eventually" she said and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

John felt her shudder a little probably from the tears he figured and held her a little tighter. After a few moments he started to say something to her when he noticed she'd fallen asleep in his arms and he laughed quietly to himself as he picked her up and moved her on his bed and crawled under the covers next to her.

He turned on his alarm and sent Randy a text telling him that when Dibiase got back, to let him know where Morgan was and he turned out the lights and lay down on the pillows.

John watched Morgan sleep and listened to her breathing for about twenty minutes. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and let his fingers brush across her cheek slowly and she sighed in her sleep. John smiled and sighed himself.

"Goodnight Morgan. I love you" he whispered and drifted off to sleep.

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_**Seven Am- John's Hotel Room**_

Morgan awoke feeling strangely content until she felt an arm draped over her midsection and quickly turned to her right. John lay sleeping soundly next to her, his arm holding her tightly, a small smile on his face. Morgan looked over and noticed it was seven am and reached out for her phone until she realized it was on the night stand on John's side of the bed and she leaned over him carefully to try to grab it.

"Well geez Morgan, if you wanted me that much all you had to do was ask" she heard John say. She rolled her eyes, grabbed her phone from the night stand and swatted John on the chest and she rolled back over to her own side.

"Maybe in your dreams Johnny" she said… _if you only knew_ he thought.

"Has lover-boy called yet" he asked her. She scrunched up her face and furrowed her brow… "No, he hasn't" she said. "Randy texted me and said they came in about four in the morning and he was crashing in his room for the night. Says he got your text and he'll keep Ted there till I'm back to the room so he won't get stupid or anything…" she said laughing. "Yeah because that's really gonna stop him from getting jealous, Randy…" she said to herself.

"Cena, sometimes your boy there is a little thick-headed" she told John.

"Yeah, he's a dumbass I know… but he's my friend and at times, he can actually be helpful. I'm assuming this but I'm pretty sure it's safe to say he knows we made up…" John said laughing. "Of course the text he sent me early this morning kinda hinted at that too…" John said as he showed Morgan the text he'd received from Randy at five am.

_Alright I'll let him know… you two behave, don't do anything I wouldn't do…*wink* _

"God that man is such a perv" Morgan said. "I should get over to his room and go get Ted I guess. We're still on for breakfast right… ten o'clock?" she said. John smiled and nodded, "absolutely, now get out cause I'm going back to sleep for a little while" he said laughing.

"Well fine, I was going to give you a hug but now I think I won't" she said. John pouted and held his arms out to her asking for said hug… "Nope" she said, "you told me to get out" she said with as straight a face as she could muster. John made his bottom lip quiver… "But… I want a hug" he said sadly, "you know I can't sleep until I've been tucked in" he said cutely.

Morgan started laughing hysterically and hugged him tightly before pushing him back onto the bed. "Fine you big baby…" she said and pulled the covers over him again. "I'll see ya later alright" she said. John nodded and said "yup, can't wait."

---------------------------------------------------

Randy heard loud knocking and knew it must be Morgan coming to drag her fiancée back to their room. He walked to the door and opened it smiling wide when he saw her on the other side.

"There's my favorite girl, I see you and John seem to be on good terms again" he said smiling to her.

"Good morning Randy" she said slightly annoyed. "Where is he" she asked impatiently. "Ouch, not even a hug" Randy said and put his hand over his heart. Morgan sighed and hugged him quickly.  
"Sorry, I'm just slightly annoyed…and yes John and I are fine, now will you please direct me to the party-boy you have sleeping in here somewhere" she said.

Randy chuckled and pointed to a passed out Ted lying on the floor at the foot of Randy's bed. Morgan rolled her eyes and walked to the bathroom. She filled up a paper cup with freezing cold water and walked over to Ted and poured the water on his head. He woke up instantly, and angrily.

"What the hell" he yelled loudly at her. "What was that for" he yelled.

"Oh gee Ted I don't know… maybe that you had me waiting up until almost four am worried sick about you" she said. "Did you even think about the signings you have today and the flight you can't miss because there aren't any more after that until late tomorrow morning? Did you even once think about what I would go through waiting up all night for you to come home?" she yelled. "You didn't even bother to call or text me to let me know when you'd be back, Randy had to do it for you" she said a little calmer.

Ted looked a little sheepishly at her. "I'm sorry, you said you didn't mind on the phone and I told you not to wait up, I guess I should have known you would have anyway" he said quietly. "You forgive me?" he asked.

Morgan sighed. "Yes I forgive you" she said and kissed him softly… "This time, but don't let it happen again" she finished and he nodded slightly. "Now you'd better hurry up, you have a signing in a half an hour at that sports shop down the street" she told him. "I brought you some clothes and some coffee so just go take a quick shower and you should be all set" she said. "I'm going back to the room to get ready. I'm having breakfast with John and then I don't know what I'm doing for the rest of the day" she finished tell him. Ted nodded and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I love you" he said, "and I'm really sorry" he finished and headed for the shower. She smiled and said "I love you too" before turning to Randy.

"Thanks for letting me know where he was… oh and by the way, I saw the text you sent to John" and with that she punched him in the arm and walked out of the room.

_Oh boy… _Randy thought. _Why can't they just admit how they feel… it would be so much simpler_.

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_**Ten-Fifteen Am- Hotel Restaurant**_

John stood and looked at his watch again. Morgan was now fifteen minutes late and her being even one minute late was unusual, fifteen minutes was downright impossible. _Maybe she stood me up…_ he thought.

"John Cena you wipe that sad look off your face right now, I did not stand you up" he heard and looked up.

"How did you know…" he started to say. "That you were thinking that?" she asked, "I know you John, better than you know yourself and I know you must have wondered why I was late and that's the only reason you could think of" she finished.

"So now that we have that all cleared up, let's get some food I'm starving" she said. John smiled and offered her his arm. "My lady" he said and she looped her arm through his.

"You're such a dork Cena" she said as she threw her head back laughing out loud.

-----------------------

John and Morgan sat at the table talking and laughing up a storm catching each other up on things they'd each missed over the last six months or so.

"John, can I ask you a question" Morgan said as they were walking back to his room.

"I believe you just did dear" he replied. She swatted him lightly, "I'm serious John" she said.

"Okay, shoot" he said. _I don't think I like where this is going…_ John thought to himself. Morgan sighed and bit her bottom lip the way she did when she was nervous.

"Well… I just… do you, no you know what never mind it's not important" she said quickly. John stopped her quickly and turned her around to face him. "Morgan what is it? You can tell me, whatever it is" he said trying his best to reassure her.

"It's nothing really… I just, I don't know sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing" she said. They had reached John's room so he led her inside, took her hand and led her over to the couch and sat down facing her and waited for her to continue.

Morgan sat facing the other direction looking out the window towards the balcony and sighed heavily. She had tried to let go off the nagging thoughts in her head since this morning but somehow she just couldn't shake the feeling that Ted was lying her about something, or at the very least he was hiding something.

John reached out and turned her head to face him and looked in her eyes. "Morgan, what is it… please talk to me" he said.

Morgan sighed heavily again before beginning to tell him everything that had been on her mind about Ted since that morning. How he'd seemed so indifferent at first, almost as if he didn't care that she'd stayed up all night and how she could have sworn she smelled the faint trace of perfume on his shirt and how when she had asked Randy where he was, it seemed like Orton was stalling a little. The she braced herself to ask the question she'd been trying to avoid asking all day. She looked up and breathed deep. "Do you think I should marry Ted?" she asked barely above a whisper.

John was shocked. That was the last thing he'd expected her to ask him. He had thought she was going to ask him how he felt about her. _I suppose in a way she kind of is but… what do I tell her. Do I tell her that Ted loves her and he'd be stupid to cheat on her and she's probably just being paranoid like she's said before or do I tell her the truth. Do I tell her to marry him or stay with me? _John had asked himself these questions every day for the last six months and now he was faced with that problem and Morgan was expecting an answer.

John sighed… "Morgan, I don't know. I can't tell you what to do and I can't tell you whether or not you should marry him, you have to answer that yourself. I can tell you that I care about you and I want you to be happy and that no matter what you decide I will stand by your decision and support you and I'll always be here to help you whenever you need me, is that good enough?" he said hoping it would be.

Morgan smiled and nodded slightly as John wiped a tear from her face. "You have to make the choice Morgan, it can't be mine or anyone else's decision, it has to be yours sweetie, but I can tell you that if you're already doubting the choice you made and you're not married yet, you probably already have your answer" he said. He hugged her tightly and she wrapped her arms around his neck and let herself relax in his arms like she had done so many times before.

"I've missed you so much… you keep me sane" she said. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you to talk me down" she said quietly. John chuckled and rubbed her back lightly. "It's a tough job but somebody's gotta do it" he said. "Besides, you're my best friend and you'd do the same for me right" he told her.

Morgan smiled, "right, you're my best friend, which means I'm stuck with your stubborn ass for all eternity" she said. "But I wouldn't have it any other way" she said.

---------------------------------------------

_**One Week Later…**_

**Philadelphia, PA**

Things between Morgan and John had been improving rapidly while the situation between Morgan and Ted deteriorated rather quickly in turn. Dibiase had started staying out late every night and John would often find Morgan standing outside his door around 3am like clockwork. It had gotten so routine that he'd just ask the desk clerk for two keys to the room and given her the second so she could come and go as she pleased without waking him up.

John woke up on Tuesday morning and headed down to the café for breakfast when he spotted Morgan and Ted arguing at a table nearby. He tried not to listen but he was too intrigued.

"Morgan you're just being paranoid and jealous, I'm not cheating on you I told you I've just been out late with Randy and Cody and some of the other guys the last few nights" he said.

"Don't lie to me Dibiase, I smelt the perfume on your shirt when you came back last night and I saw lipstick on the collar. You know I almost never wear lipstick" she yelled, disregarding the crowd of people that was starting to form. "I'm tired of this, I sit up and wait for hours while you can't even call and then when you do come back it's all 'baby I'm sorry please forgive me I'll never do it again' but you always do!" she yelled.

"You know what, fine!" he yelled back. "I know what this is… this is all Cena's fault. He's probably been feeding you this crap for a month straight now and you're so blinded by 'friendship' that you can't see what's really going on" he said.

"Don't you bring John into this… he hasn't said anything other than that my life is mine to deal with and the choices are mine and mine alone to make so you leave him out of it" she yelled back.

"Oh my God you are so naive" Ted yelled. "He's jealous of me, he wants you all to himself and he's doing everything he can to break us up… he might not have told you to leave but I'll bet he's been planting ideas in that pretty little air-headed brain of yours to make you think these things are true when they're not" he said calmly.

John had heard enough and stormed through the crowd towards Morgan and Ted and just as he was about to tell Dibiase exactly what he thought of him he saw Morgan slap the daylights out of him before he got the chance.

"I told you to leave John Cena out of this. Whatever issue you may have with him, he is my friend and he's one of the few people who actually cares about me so you can back the hell off kay" she said angrily. "As for you and I, I don't associate with cheaters, and I certainly don't marry them so you can consider us over and done" she said. Morgan wrenched the engagement ring off her finger and slammed it down on the table and stormed out of the café towards the room she and Ted had shared.

--------------------------------------------

An hour later, after Morgan had packed up everything in her room, booked the earliest flight to Raw's next stop in Baltimore and called the front desk to check out, she heard a knock at her door. She pulled herself up off the bed and wiped her eyes clear of the tears she had cried and steeled herself for what she assumed would be round two with Ted. He couldn't use his key to get in because she had locked the bolts on the door so he would have had to knock anyway.

Morgan walked to the door and peeked through the peephole and saw not Ted, but John standing on the other side. She unlocked all the locks and threw open the door and flung herself into his arms.

John wasn't really surprised in the least. He picked her up in his arms, kicked the door shut with his foot and carried her over to her bed and sat down on the edge. "I'm so sorry" she sobbed. "I didn't mean to get you involved. I told him to leave you out of it but he just couldn't. I know the things he said weren't true though, I know you're only trying to help" she said in between sobs.

"Shhh…" he said. "It's alright, I can take a little insult now and then" he told her. "I'm more worried about you because what he's done can't be fixed with just words" he said. "He said some horrible things and I don't want you to think for a second that they're true because they are absolutely not true, not in the least. You're smart and beautiful and funny and anybody would be lucky to have you in their life, I don't think I'd be who I am today without you and I've only know you a couple of years now…" he said.

"You really mean that?" Morgan asked. "Absolutely, every word" he replied. Morgan smiled slightly and wiped the tears from her eyes. She threw her arms around his neck and whispered softly in his ear. "You're my best friend, I love you Johnny."

John's eyes went wide. Had he heard what he thought he did? Had she really told him she loved him? John pulled back and looked at her confused. Morgan saw the confusion on his face and smiled. "Oh come one Johnny… you always knew and don't tell me you didn't. I know you better than that" she said. John smiled and wiped a stray tear from her face and kissed her softly.

"I love you Morgan, I think I always have" he whispered. "I know" she said, "somehow I always knew." Morgan called the airport later on and cancelled her early flight, left her key on the nightstand for Ted to find and John carried her bags down the hall to his hotel room where they spent the rest of the day lying in each other's arms watching movies and ordering room service.

-------------------------------------------------

"CENA, OPEN UP!" John and Morgan looked up at each other confused. "What in the blue hell…" he said as he got up to open the door. He looked through the peephole and sighed… "It's Randy" he said. Morgan smiled and nodded for him to let his friend in the room.

"John what the hell is going on… everybody's talking about how Morgan and Ted are caput and when I asked if anyone had seen you they all said they hadn't seen you all day. Don't you know what's going on… this is your chance man…" Randy said. "Oh hey Morgan… wait a minute what's she doing here?" he asked.

"Gee Randy, nice to see you too…" Morgan said slightly annoyed. "Yes I broke up with my two-timing fiancée and I've been holed up here with John ever since, so it's safe to say he knows about it. It's also safe to assume he knows it's his chance seen as how he's already taken it" she said and she saw Randy's mouth drop open.

"Oh wow, I'm way out of the loop" said Randy. John chose then to speak up. "Look Randy you can't tell anyone about me and Morgan just yet. I don't want them to get any funny ideas about Morgan so I think it's best if we wait a little while before we tell people. Morgan and I have talked about it together and that's what we want for now" he told his friend. Randy nodded and agreed with them before heading back to his own room for the night.

John closed the door and locked it. "Well that was interesting" he said to himself. John walked over to the bed where Morgan was sitting and noticed she had a sad expression on her face.

"Morgan, honey what's wrong? You were so happy just five minutes ago… what happened?" he asked as he reached for her hand. She let him brush a few strands of her hair from her face and leaned back until her head was resting on his chest.

"Do you think people will say that…" Morgan couldn't finish her sentence. John knew what she meant anyway. "Honey, it doesn't matter. Let them say what they want about us I don't care as long as I have you. Don't worry, if anyone says something I don't like I'll take care of it" he said. "Now what happened to my strong, smart, beautiful best friend who's so in love with me, where did she go?" he asked cutely. Morgan looked up and smiled at John. "I'm right here" she said and pulled herself up to kiss him.

"I love you Morgan" said John, "more than you'll ever know."

"I love you too Johnny" she replied and laid her head back down on his chest, "I always will."

**A/N: So there you have it… I was going to drag it out over two chapters but at the last minute I changed my mind so I guess you guys benefit from that. I think the next chapter is going to be split up between John and Morgan's point of views, like what they're each thinking now that they're together and what-not. Rate, review, you know what to do! (hey that rhymed… wow… lol) **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey everybody, I'm sorry it's been sooo long since the last update. I was sick for a couple weeks with the flu and I was playing catch up with school until this past Monday so this was the first chance I've had to really sit down and think about how I wanted this to go. I'm doing my best so bear with me here… on to the chapter!**

**Chapter Ten: Aftermath**

**One Week Later…**

John walked through the backstage area of the arena in Chicago feeling lonely for the first time in a while. Morgan had flown out to Connecticut for a court date she was needed for and wasn't scheduled to be back until the next Monday in Columbus Ohio. John reached the catering area and looked around for an open seat when he saw one next to Randy and walked over.

"Hey man, what's up" he said to his best friend. John sat down at the table and waited for his friend to answer.

"Oh hey. Nothing much really, just kinda hanging out until the match later on" Randy replied. "What about you man" he asked.

"Oh you know the usual… still waiting to hear from Morgan, she was supposed to call when she got out of court today but I think she might have forgotten about it. I hope she gets back soon, I feel like I'm losing my mind without her around. She keeps really good track of all my appearances and stuff, she's good at keeping on top of things like that. I guess she'd have to be in order to be a lawyer ya know…" John trailed off when he realized Randy wasn't really listening anymore. "Sorry dude, I guess I was rambling a little huh" he said.

Randy laughed openly. "Ya think, dude you're like a lost puppy. For someone who's trying to keep this relationship a secret you're not hiding your feelings all that well" he told John. "Man, just call her. She probably forgot or just hasn't finished up yet, sometimes court can take a while. I'm sure she'd appreciate the phone call anyway" he told his friend. Randy got up from the table, slapped John on the shoulder and walked away shaking his head at his friend and chuckling to himself.

* * *

_Hi! You've reached Morgan Barlow, sorry I can't take your call right now but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as possible. _

John waited for the familiar beep to let him know to start his message…

"Hey Morgan, it's John. Just called to see how court was going…" John was silent for a moment as he thought about what to say. "I miss you… it's pretty boring on the road all by myself and Randy's been no help at all lately." John chuckled lightly and ran his hand over his head before continuing.

"I hate you being away like this. It feels like every time we finally get away from everybody we get separated again…" John sighed heavily and said "Call me okay, I miss hearing your voice. Love you".

John hung up the phone and tossed it in duffle bag and sank onto the bed in his hotel room.

_Only seven more days…_ he said to himself. He heard the vibrations of his phone a few minutes later and shot across the room to his bag thinking it was Morgan calling him back.

He sighed when he read the caller ID. _Orton… figures_ he scoffed and answered the call.

"What's up dude?" he asked.

"Hey, just thought I'd let you know, I overheard Steph talking to Paul earlier and it seems they managed to book Morgan an earlier flight. I don't know all the details just something about how her court appearance went really well and they were able to finish sooner than expected or something. I'm sure if you talk to Steph she'll probably give you the flight info" Randy told him.

John was ecstatic and forgot Randy was on the other line. He hung up the phone and grabbed his key card and practically body-slammed the door open before heading to the arena to talk to Stephanie.

Randy sat on the other end of the phone and lightly chuckled to himself before hanging up. _Damn fool, he's got it bad…_ he thought to himself before heading back inside the arena to warn Stephanie of the impending Hurricane Cena she was about to encounter.

* * *

Stephanie was waiting in her makeshift office at the arena when John came barging in twenty minutes later.

"Hey Steph, Randy told me he overheard you..." Stephanie put up a hand to stop him from continuing.

"I know why you're here John. Randy informed me that you'd be showing up soon. Here's the flight information, Morgan's flight will be arriving in Columbus a day earlier than expected" she told him.

John smiled and thanked her. "Thanks Steph. It's been hell not having anyone around lately" he told her.

Stephanie smiled back. "I understand John. I don't like it when I have to be away from Paul either. Love can really mess with your head sometimes" she said and winked at him.

John looked stunned. "Wait, how did you know, we haven't told anyone yet except Randy" he asked.

"Oh I can tell, woman's intuition I guess. Besides, you two were obviously in love with each other from the start, it just took you both a while to admit it" Stephanie replied. "Now, go get some rest. Can't have my WWE Champion falling asleep in the ring now can I" she said.

John thanked her again and left the office. He stopped by catering to talk to some of his friends and waited for Randy to finish a workout in the ring with Cody and Ted before they headed back to the hotel.

John grabbed a bite to eat and sat down with a magazine he'd picked up the previous week but hadn't read yet. He opened the cover and a small note on blue paper fell into his lap. He picked it up and smiled when he read it.

_Johnny, _

_I figured eventually you'd read your magazine while I was gone. Looks like I was right again huh. I just wanted to tell you that I love you and I miss you and I can't wait to be back in your arms. It's only a week and then I'll be back. Try not to be too bored without me and tell Randy to keep "us" to himself or I'll body-slam him. Oh and please don't kill Ted, he's not worth it remember. _

_Love, _

_Me. _

John slipped the note in his pocket and looked up when he heard Randy Cody and Ted approaching.

"Hey J, what's up man" Cody asked him.

"Hey Rhodes, nothing much just hanging out until _Randall's_ ready to get out of here. What about you guys" John replied putting emphasis on Randy's name sarcastically.

"Oh gee, thanks John. Thought we were friends you jerk" Randy said while fake crying. "God, I hate you" he said and started laughing. Cody and John joined in the laughter while Ted watched in silence glaring at John.

Randy noticed the look on Ted's face and nudged John in the shoulder lightly to get his attention and silently motioned towards Ted. John turned his head slightly and saw what Randy was referring to. John seemed to momentarily forget what Morgan said in her note and turned to face Ted.

"Do you have a problem with me Dibiase" he asked.

Ted was surprised that John would confront him and thought twice about saying anything back at first before glaring even harder.

"Yeah I've got a problem. Why don't you stay away from my fiancée, we might be having a fight right now but we'll work it out and when we do, you better stay away" he shot back.

John laughed out loud and realized that they had now attracted a bit of an audience.

"Ted, why don't wake up alright. You cheated on her, why would she ever come back to you? Tell you what, why don't YOU stay away from Morgan. It's obvious she doesn't want you or need you so just back off" John replied snidely.

He turned to walk away and stopped dead when Dibiase replied.

"That's what this is all about isn't it. I get it now. All those times I was out late she was with you wasn't she? Fine, you want her, you can have her. She's a two-timing bitch anyhow" he said smugly.

John turned and the small crowd that had gathered saw fire in his eyes.

"Take it back" he said angrily.

"Make me" Dibiase replied.

Suddenly John lunged at Ted and tackled him to the floor. He started throwing punches left and right and got a couple of good shots in before Randy, Cody, Dave and a couple others broke up the fight and restrained the two men. John's chest was heaving and Ted had a busted lip and the beginnings of a shiner on his left eye.

"YOU GONNA TAKE IT BACK NOW F*CKER!" John yelled while struggling to break free from Randy and Dave's grip.

"YOU DON'T HAVE A CHANCE IN HELL WITH HER" Ted yelled back. "I'll get her back just wait until she hears what you did" he said more calmly. Ted shrugged off the guys holding him back and walked out of the catering area wiping his lip on his shirt.

Randy and Dave brought John over to a chair and sat him down still holding onto him in case he decided to go after Ted.

Everyone was quiet for a little while before Dave finally spoke.

"Dude, what the hell was that about" he asked John.

John sighed and looked up at Dave. "He's been harassing Morgan for the past week because he thinks he still has a chance to be with her even after what he did to her, and then he has the nerve to say what he did. He just said it to the wrong person at the wrong time" John replied.

"You'll probably be suspended for that" Randy began, "unless you can get enough people to say he provoked you" he finished.

"Count me in" said Dave. Randy agreed saying "yeah, me too".

"We all saw what happened John. We'll stick up for you" they heard and turned to see who it was.

Mickie James and Kelly Kelly as well as Paul, Shawn and Cody stood behind them. John smiled.

"Thanks guys, but I think I'll handle this one by myself. Steph and I have an… understanding" he told them. "If I need you guys, I'll let you know though" he finished.

John left the catering area and headed back to Stephanie's office to talk to her about the fight he was sure she already knew about.

* * *

"Come in" Stephanie called out.

"Ahh John, I've been expecting you" she said. "Please sit down, it seems like we're seeing a lot of each other today" she told him.

John sat down and hung his head a little. "Steph I'm really sorry, I don't know what came over me" he said guiltily.

"John, I've already taken statements from some of the other people who saw what happened and as it stands you don't have much to be sorry for. It seems that Ted provoked you and insulted your best friend. If it had been me, I would have done exactly the same thing. However, I can't just not do anything simply because I have some insider knowledge here" she replied.

"I understand Steph. You gotta do what you gotta do" John replied sadly.

"That being said, considering this was a first offense and it wasn't entirely your fault I don't see the need to strip you of the belt. I don't expect it to happen again either considering I know the kind of person you are John. I've spoken with my father and a couple of the story writers and we've decided that a two-week suspension without pay is punishment enough. We wrote a short segment for tonight's Monday Night Raw in which Randy will head-punt you and give us the perfect way to get you out of the ring for two weeks without hurting the storyline or taking the belt from you. Do your segment tonight, go home and don't ever let me hear of you getting into a fist fight with Dibiase or anyone else for that matter ever again, do you understand me". Stephanie motioned for John to stand up and he did.

"You can go now" she said matter-of-factly.

"Thank you Stephanie. I appreciate your understanding about this" John said and left her office.

_Man how am I gonna tell Morgan about this…_ he thought.

* * *

**Meanwhile in Connecticut…**

Morgan sat in her small apartment in Stamford Connecticut looking over the documents she needed for the case she was working on when she remembered that she'd gotten a call earlier she hadn't been able to answer.

She reached for her phone and saw she had a voicemail and smiled when she heard it.

_Hey Morgan, it's John. Just called to see how court was going…I miss you… it's pretty boring on the road all by myself and Randy's been no help at all lately. I hate you being away like this. It feels like every time we finally get away from everybody we get separated again…Call me okay, I miss hearing your voice. Love you._

Morgan checked her watch and realized it was almost 9 o'clock.

_I can't call him now, Raw's about to start and he wouldn't have time to talk anyways. I'll just call him after the show_ she thought to herself.

She turned on her small television and tuned to the USA network just as Raw's opening pyrotechnics display was finishing. Morgan went to the kitchen and made herself something to eat and returned to the living room and sat down to watch Raw for the night.

Finally at quarter to 11 it was time for John's match with Randy to start and Morgan was paying close attention. She knew John wasn't booked to win the match but still didn't know anything about the fight between him and Ted or the aftermath it had caused for the show that night.

Randy came out to the ring and talked about how he would beat Cena at the next pay-per-view and Morgan couldn't help but laugh as the crowd booed him and shouted "Orton sucks" among other obscenities.

_If only they knew what he was really like. Poor guy gets enough hate mail as it is…_ she thought out loud.

Morgan continued to watch and smiled brightly as John's music filled the room and his image appeared on the screen. He told Randy that he would win at the next show and that he wasn't intimidated and never backed down from a fight.

The bell rang and the two men in the ring squared off. They wrestled a good match and Morgan watched intently. She cheered when John hit a good move or kicked out of a pinning situation and grimaced when he fell hard or took a bad beating.

At the end of the match, John went for the Attitude Adjustment but Randy countered into the RKO and John went down hard onto the mat. He started to lift himself up and Randy moved to the corner of the ring to prepare himself for the head-punt. Morgan watched, her eyes wide, as Randy punted John square in the head and left the ring as medics raced to John's aid.

* * *

_**Stamford, Connecticut **_

Morgan picked up her phone and immediately called Randy who picked up on the first ring.

"He's fine Morgan" Randy told her before she had a chance to get a word out. He heard her sigh on the other end and chuckled to himself.

"Are you sure he's alright, it looks bad" she said.

"It's supposed to look bad Morgan, it's television. He's absolutely fine, it's just part of the storyline" Randy replied. "Why don't you call him later, he's going crazy without you" he finished.

"Alright, if you're sure he's okay then I guess I'll let you go. Tell him to call me before he goes to bed will ya" she asked.

Randy agreed and they said their goodbyes just as John was ''wheeled" into the backstage area. Once they were off the air and well out of the view of the audience John jumped off the gurney and went into the locker room.

* * *

_**Chicago, Illinois**_

"Hey man, Morgan just called me freaking out. I can't believe you didn't at least tell her you were getting punted man" he heard Randy say.

"Oh crap, I knew I forgot to do something. I guess in the craziness of everything this afternoon I just forgot. She's not mad is she" John asked him.

"Nah, I don't think so. She'll understand that it was last minute. Are you gonna tell her about your fight with Ted, because I know he will if ever gets her within earshot. And if he doesn't someone else surely will, word gets around fast here you know" Randy replied.

"yeah, I gotta tell her, I just don't know how. She'll be so angry at me for it but what was I supposed to do ya know, just let him say nasty things about her that weren't true. I mean, come on, even Steph said if it was her she'd have done the same thing…" John trailed off and after a second he sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair.

"Man, what am I gonna do" he said to Randy.

Randy sighed. "I don't know man, but you have to tell her because if she finds out from someone else, or god forbid Ted tells her, she's going to be even more angry" he told his friend.

"By the way, she said she wanted you to call her before you go to bed tonight. I would suggest you do it now because it's almost midnight in Connecticut" he said.

"Good point. Alright I'll talk to ya later. Thanks" John said and left for the hotel.

* * *

_**Connecticut- 11:30pm**_

Morgan sat quietly in her living room finishing up a brief she needed to file first thing in the morning when her phone rang loudly at her side.

"Hello" she said.

There was silence on the other end for a moment and then the caller spoke.

"Morgan, it's Ted. Don't hang up, there's something you should know" he said.

"What is it Ted" she asked annoyed. Morgan couldn't believe that Ted would be calling her after all they'd been through.

"Has John called you yet" he asked her.

"No, he hasn't. Has something happened to him" she asked suddenly a little afraid.

"No, he's fine" Ted replied sarcastically. "He attacked me today" he told her.

"HE DID WHAT" Morgan yelled.

She took a few moments to gain composure and continued on a little more softly.

"Why would he attack you, did you do something to provoke him" she asked Ted.

"No, I didn't do anything. We were just talking in a group and I asked how you were because well, we haven't talked since well, you know, and I knew you and he were close and I just wanted to see how you were doing and then he said that I needed to just leave you alone and back off or else and I tried to tell him I just wanted to be friends again, and maybe work things out if we could, and he told me to stay away from you and lunged at me" Ted said.

"Oh my god. Are you alright" Morgan asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just a busted lip and a black eye, nothing major" he replied.

"Alright, well thanks for letting me know. I'll definitely have a chat with John, for now I suggest you stay away from him alright" Morgan told him. "Call me if anything else happens alright. I've gotta go, someone's beeping through okay" she finished.

"Okay, thanks Morgan. I miss you. Bye" he replied.

"Bye" she said and switched over to the other phone call.

Ted sat down on the hotel bed and smiled mischievously. _There, that should take care of Cena. Now I've just got to convince her that we belong together…_ he thought.

_Just you wait Morgan, we'll be back together soon enough _he said out loud.

* * *

Morgan answered the waiting call still slightly shaken by what she'd just heard.

"He…Hello" she stuttered.

"Baby, is that you? You sound upset is everything alright" John asked her.

Hearing his voice made her blood boil in that very second and Morgan couldn't control the anger burning inside her.

" How could you…" she said softly. "Why, I don't understand. This is so unlike you John"

John was a little confused. "I don't understand. Baby what are you talking about" he asked concerned.

"YOU BEAT UP TED!" she screamed. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU" she yelled even louder.

"What! Did that jackass tell you that because…" Morgan cut him off before he could finish.

"Just stop John. I don't want to hear it. I don't care who said what or who did what to whom, I don't want to talk to you right now and I swear if I hear that you so much as looked at Ted after today you can forget about me coming back, do you understand me" she said angrily.

John sighed. "Morgan, I wish you'd let me explain. It isn't what you think it is. I wouldn't just attack someone, you said it yourself it's not like me. You have to believe me…please" he asked softly.

"John, I said I don't want to talk about it. Furthermore, I don't really want to talk to you right now either. I need time to think. I'll assume you know I'm coming in a day early so I'll see you then I guess" she said coldly and hung up the phone.

Morgan set the receiver on the base and unplugged the phone line. She turned off her cell phone and pager and finished up her work on her laptop before shutting that down too for the night. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom and collapsed onto the bed more tired than she had been in a long time.

Morgan laid in bed and stared at the ceiling for hours before finally drifting off to sleep at three am. John sat in his hotel room in Chicago, his broken phone smashed against the wall, head in his hands muttering to himself about how much he'd screwed things up again.

_I need a drink_ he said to himself and headed down to the bar…

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, the long awaited Chapter Ten. WHEW! I finally got it done, and just in time for Christmas too. I'm going away for a week or so and I'm not sure if I'll have internet access where I'm going so it may be a couple weeks until I can get a new chapter up. I'm also going to be working on a few alternate storylines involving John and Morgan. They'll probably be a couple of one or two-shots maybe, just alternate story progressions that I've been tossing around in my head for a while. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So I've published one of those new story-lines I've been working on. Please check it out, I want to see what you guys think about them because I may use similar discussion or dialogue or events within this story if I feel they fit in. Anyways, since I haven't done it in a while, I do not own John Cena or anyone affiliated with him or the WWE as a whole, I only own the OC's. Also, this chapter is named for the song by Lifehouse, I don't own it, I just like it… Thanks for not suing.**

**Chapter 11: Whatever It Takes**

John had left message after message on Morgan's cell and called her every day at the same time but she never answered.

Whatever she had heard, she was convinced that it was true and she wasn't talking to him. He tried to explain in his messages but he could never find the right words to say. He didn't want to tell her what Ted had said about her because he didn't want to upset her more but he knew she'd never understand unless she knew what had provoked him.

John had kept his promise to Stephanie and stayed far away from Ted. In fact, he hadn't left his hotel room for three days straight except to appear for shows or appearances.

Saturday night arrived quicker than he expected it to and though he knew she wouldn't answer John called Morgan anyhow to let her know that he'd be there to pick her up at the airport when she arrived.

Her phone rang twice before she picked up.

"Hello" she said. John was surprised she had picked up at all.

"Morgan, it's John. I was just calling to let you know I'll be at the airport to pick you up tomorrow" he said slowly hoping she would agree.

"Oh, I didn't know it was you calling. The caller ID on my phone is broken, I think I need to get a new one" Morgan sighed, "I suppose that's fine, I'll see you tomorrow. My flight arrives at 2 o'clock, Gate 14B, make sure you're on time please" she told him.

John started to reply but she had already hung up. He sighed in frustration and silently vowed to himself that he wouldn't get rattled tomorrow.

_If she doesn't wanna talk, just give her some time. She can't ignore me forever right_ he said to himself.

* * *

Morgan said goodbye to the people she had worked with and drove her rental car to the airport. She boarded the plane and sat down for the flight with a book she had been meaning to read for a while. She sent a text message to John to let him she was on her way but didn't bother to say anything else.

Truth was, she was still very angry with him. She knew she didn't really have a right to be because she didn't know the whole story, or at least didn't know his side of it, but she'd take care of that as soon as got back and go from there.

The plane landed in record time and she stepped into the terminal and saw a crowd of people gathered near the exit tunnel. She figured that must be John, even when he wears a disguise, people still recognize him. She walked over to baggage claim and grabbed her suitcase before making her way through the crowd that had formed.

"Excuse me, pardon me" she said as she pushed her way through all the screaming girls. Finally she reached the middle of the crowd and sure enough, there stood John, posing for a picture with a wide grin on his face.

"Well, you look like you're having fun" she said sarcastically. "Can I have the keys, I'll wait in the car until you're finished here I guess" she asked him.

John looked up and smiled sheepishly at her. He pulled the car keys out of his pocket and held them over his head.

"You'll have to give me a hug to get them" he said grinning.

Morgan scoffed. "Fine" she said. Morgan moved closer and John hugged her tightly. "I missed you" he whispered in her ear. "I know" she told him.

John gave her the keys and went back to finish signing autographs and posing for pictures while Morgan loaded her bags into the rental. She plugged her IPod into radio and began to sing along with the music.

Twenty minutes later John finally opened the driver's side door and started the car.

"I'm sorry that took so long" he said apologetically.

"Mhmm…" was all he heard. John sighed, clearly frustrated but reminded himself that he expected this.

"Stephanie said if you had any questions about what happened between me and Ted you could talk to her anytime" he tried.

"Fine, whatever" she replied coldly.

"Are you ever gonna talk to me" he asked.

"You're not my favorite person right now" she said.

John gripped the steering wheel and gritted his teeth.

"Alright, fine. When you're ready to talk you know where I'll be" he told her as they pulled up to the hotel.

Morgan quickly got out of the car and grabbed her bags from the trunk. She walked inside the hotel and went to the front desk to get her room key.

"Hi Welcome to the Marriott, do you have a reservation?" asked the clerk.

"Yes, it should be under Barlow, Morgan" she told the young woman.

The clerk scrolled through the lists on the computer screen and frowned. "I'm sorry there seems to be a problem. It seems somehow we've overbooked and your room is no longer available" the clerk said.

"Well is there another room you can give me" Morgan asked frustrated.

"No, I'm sorry. We're booked solid" she said. "Is there anyone here that you can room with until we can find a suitable room for you" she asked.

John had walked up in the midst of the conversation and saw the frustrated look in Morgan's eyes.

"Ma'am, she can stay with me. Room 215, if you can give me an extra key card that'd be great, thanks" John said. Morgan glared at him but smiled at the clerk when she handed her the extra key card.

"I'm very sorry about this Miss" she told Morgan.

Morgan smiled. "It's alright, sometimes these things happen. Thank you for your help" she said and walked towards the elevator.

* * *

Morgan reached the hotel room, unlocked the door, threw her bags in the closet and collapsed onto the bed furthest from the door. She figured it must have been the one John had slept in because she could smell his scent on the pillows.

John got to the room a few minutes later and saw Morgan lying on his bed staring out the window. He walked over to the bed and sat down slowly not wanting to upset her further.

"Why did you do it John" she said suddenly. "Just tell me why and I'll understand" she said still staring out the window.

John sighed. He hadn't wanted to talk about it right that second. He'd wanted time to figure out what to say but Morgan wanted an answer and he was tired of fighting with her.

"I was talking to Randy and Cody after one of their practice sessions and Ted was just glaring at me so I asked him if he had a problem with me and he told me to stay away from you. He said you were still his fiancée and that eventually you'd go back to him and I didn't have a chance in hell" he told her.

Morgan looked at him wide-eyed. "So you slugged him in the face?" she asked incredulously. "John, that's hardly a reason to give someone a busted lip" she said.

"That wasn't the reason. That was how it started" he told her. "Anyways, so I told him he was crazy to think you'd go back to him and that he needed to just stay away from you and he didn't say anything so I turned to walk away and that's when he…" John paused for a moment not sure how to tell her what happened next.

"John, what happened. What did he say" Morgan asked. She momentarily forgot she was angry at him and reached for his hand. "John, what is it" she asked again. Morgan could tell whatever it was, he didn't want to tell her.

John took a deep breath and spoke, watching Morgan's expression carefully as he did. "When I turned to walk away he said that he'd figured it out. He said that the whole time he was coming home late, you were with me. He said if I wanted you I could have you and you called you a 'two timing bitch.' I told him to take it back and he told me to make him, so I did" John finished.

He stole a quick glance at Morgan's face and noticed her lower lip quivering. He thought she was crying and turned to face her but she wasn't crying. He saw rage in her eyes, the kind of rage where people say that someone was "seeing red."

"Morgan, I know you're mad at me and I'm sorry for that I really am but I couldn't let him say those things about you. Not when I know they aren't true" he told her. "Stephanie suspended me for two weeks but I get to keep the belt. She hasn't decided yet what to do with Ted I guess. I suppose she's probably waiting for you to decide on that" he told her.

John stood up and moved to get his key card from the night stand. "I'll leave you alone for a while, I'm going to go down to the weight room I think." Morgan didn't say anything and John left the room and headed downstairs to the weight room for a workout. He figured she'd come around eventually she probably just needed to sort everything out and she'd be fine.

* * *

Morgan let everything John had sink into her brain and she was furious. She was undoubtedly angry at Ted for lying to her and trying to turn her against John, but she was more angry at herself for believing him when he'd called. She couldn't understand why she'd believed him at all and now she felt horrible for treating John the way she had when all he'd been trying to do was protect her.

She got up and grabbed her purse and key card, wrote a short note for John and walked down to the hotel bar for a drink.

John came back to the hotel room about an hour later and immediately noticed that Morgan was missing. He saw her bags in the closet so he knew she was still in the building and then he saw the note on the night stand.

_John, _

_I'm sorry I didn't let you explain before. I feel horrible for the way I've treated you the past week. I don't know why I believed him when he called me and told me what you'd done but I'm sorry for not letting you tell your side of the story. I'll talk to Stephanie before Raw tomorrow and get this all straightened out and then I think I'm going to take a leave of absence from work. I have an apartment in Stamford, maybe I'll stay there for a while and I don't know. Maybe things aren't working out the way we hoped they would. It's been less than a month since we've been together and things are already falling apart. I'm just not sure I can do this anymore. I love you John, I don't want you to ever think differently but I need to do this for myself. _

_Love, _

_Morgan._

John read the note a full three times before he fully realized what it was she was saying. He shoved the note in his pocket and grabbed his key card and headed down to the lobby to see if he could find Morgan somewhere.

* * *

He searched the restaurants and the small gift shop before checking the pool and the hot tub thinking maybe she had gone for a swim but still he couldn't find her. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it off his belt loop and answered.

"Hello" he said.

"Hey John, its Rhodes" he heard Cody's voice on the other end. "You might want to come down to the bar in the lobby, Morgan's a little smashed" he said.

"Oh man. Alright I'll be right there in a minute thanks man" John said. He hung up the phone and sighed loudly before heading over to the bar to retrieve his drunk girlfriend.

John walked into the bar and saw Cody and bunch of guys sitting at a table. Morgan was sitting next to Cody, downing shot after shot without thinking twice.

"Morgan" he called over the music. "I think it's time to go" he said. "You look like you've had enough to drink" he said as he reached out to help her stand up.

"Johnny, is that you" she said. "Yup, you've definitely had enough to drink" he said. Normally John would have thought this was hilarious but considering the circumstances that led to Morgan being in this state, he couldn't even manage a smile.

"Come on I'll take you back to the room" he said. Morgan leaned on John for support. "Okay" she slurred. She tripped twice on the way to the elevator so John decided it would be better if he carried her rather than risk her getting hurt. He picked her up as soon as they were out of the elevator and carried her down to their room. He set her down for a moment to get the door open and picked her up once again when he'd successfully unlocked it.

John carried Morgan into the room and kicked the door shut with his foot before placing her gently on the bed. He went to the bathroom and got her a glass of water and the bottle of advil he knew she would need later.

"You're gonna have one heck of a hangover tomorrow" he said.

"Mhmm, probably" she said slowly. Morgan soon fell into a deep sleep and John sat next to her stroking her hair as she slept. He left the room for a few minutes to get some snacks from the nearby vending machine and when he got back Morgan was moving around in her sleep and groaning. John put the food down on the table and watched her for a few seconds before she started to thrash and scream.

John raced to the bed and did his best to wake her up. He shook her by the shoulders and called her name and finally her eyes shot open .

Morgan took sharp ragged breaths and looked around for a minute before she realized where she was. She looked up at John who was white as a ghost and appeared scared out of his mind and she reached up and hugged him tightly.

"I'm okay, just a bad dream that's all" she said. He let out the breath he'd been holding and the color came back to his face. "Good, you had me pretty scared there" he told her.

"Don't be, I'm fine" she said. Suddenly Morgan jumped up. "Okay, maybe I was wrong" she said and raced for the bathroom. Thirty minutes later she finally emerged from the bathroom having disposed of her stomach contents and showering and brushing her teeth afterwards.

* * *

She sat down and John handed her a diet coke he'd bought from the vending machine and the bottle of Advil from the night stand. She smiled and said "thank you" and took two Advil and a sip of her drink.

John wasn't sure if she remembered the note but he knew he had to ask. "Um, Morgan" he said quietly.

"Yeah" she answered. She turned towards him and waited for him to say something.

He didn't say a word but simply pulled the note from his pocket and handed it to her slowly.

Morgan took a deep breath. "Oh" she said quietly. "I forgot about that" she told him.

John sighed. He didn't want to ask but he had to know. "Do you really think it's not working out between us" he asked her. "Is it really so bad that you don't think we can make it work, because I don't. All the problems we've had the past couple of weeks weren't either of our faults, well… the fight with Ted was sort of my fault but that's no reason to just give up. You said it yourself, you love me, so why are you trying to run away again" he asked.

Morgan was quiet for a moment. "I don't want to leave. I love you" she said. "I just feel like no matter what we do, something will always be in the way" she told him. "This whole deal with Ted isn't just gonna go away. If he went to all that trouble to call me and tell me this elaborate story then who knows what he'll do. He may have said you could have me, but I know him, he's going to do everything he can to turn us against each other and he's already succeeded once, and very simply I might add" she was speaking quickly now.

"I mean, what do we do with this. I don't want him to lose his job as angry as I am with him, I don't want him to be fired or kicked off Raw but I don't think I can continue to work and live around him like this when I know he's trying to ruin us. I don't understand how you can be so relaxed about it" she said.

Morgan had begun pacing back and forth in front of John who was still sitting on the bed. Finally John stood up and grabbed her by the waist. "Stop pacing" he said, "you're making me dizzy."

"Sorry" she said quietly. She tried to move away and John tightened his grip on her waist. "I'm not letting you go" he told her.

Morgan looked up surprised. "Wh..what" she said.

"You're scared that it won't work out between us so you're trying to run away before you get hurt. I won't let you do that. If I have to stay awake all night to make sure you don't leave me then that's what I'll do" he said seriously.

Morgan just stared at him her eyes wide in surprise. This was a side of John she hadn't yet seen and though she wasn't scared, it was still very surprising to see him so immovable on something.

As if he read her thoughts John smiled slightly to reassure her. "I'm sorry if I scared you" he said. "I just don't want you to leave when you don't have a reason to" he told her. "I love you, I don't want to lose you, not when it's taken this long for us to finally be together. I won't give up on us that easily and I don't want you to either" he said.

Morgan sighed heavily and smiled up at John. "I love you too, and I am sorry for what happened with Ted" she told him before closing the gap between them and holding him tightly.

John wrapped an arm around her waist and placed his other arm up around her shoulders and began stroking her hair. He picked her up and sat down on the bed, Morgan's legs draped over his and her head resting on his chest, his arms still wrapped around her.

"I did miss you, every day" Morgan said.

John smiled. "I missed you too. It was horrible not knowing whether or not you'd ever speak to me again" he replied.

"I'm so sorry John" she said. Morgan felt a tear fall and wiped away the others that had formed in her eyes. "It's alright. Please don't be upset" John said. Morgan nodded silently and smiled.

"Are you hungry" he asked her.

"I'm starving, what time is it" she asked.

"It's a little after five. Just about dinner time. How about I order us some room service and we stay in tonight" he said. Morgan smiled and said "that sounds great."

She got up to look at the menu and John followed coming up behind her and putting his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head. They picked out some food and John removed one arm to call room service and order before quickly replacing it.

Morgan let herself fall back against his chest and tilted her head to the side. She turned slightly to look up at him and placed a hand on his cheek. John smiled and remembered how much he'd missed her touch when she was gone. He bent down and gently kissed her releasing his grip on her waist enough for her to turn and face him. Morgan put her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss.

* * *

Five minutes later John's shirt was lying on the floor and he had Morgan backed against the wall when there was a knock at the door. Morgan pushed him back slightly and he groaned in frustration but answered the door and brought the food in. He tipped the delivery guy and walked over to where he had brought the cart. Morgan was standing there, her hair a little disheveled and makeup smeared but beautiful as always. John kissed her again and tried to get back to where they were but Morgan put her hands on his chest and gently pushed him back.

John sighed. "Alright, alright, I surrender" he said.

Morgan giggled and reached for the food they had ordered. After a few minutes of silence John spoke up. "Baby, when are we gonna tell everyone about us" he asked hesitantly.

"Huh, what" she said. Morgan looked up not sure she'd heard him right.

"It's just that I mean, Randy knows obviously and Stephanie said it was obvious to her, that's why she didn't strip me of the belt, I guess she knew you'd probably freak, but no one else knows. I'm sure Ted suspects and I think Cody's got a clue too but it's driving me crazy. I hate having to pretend we're just friends around everyone" he explained.

Morgan sighed. "I know what you mean. It's hard for me too" she said.

"Then remind me why we're doing it. It's been months since my divorce and even if there are rumors going around I don't care. We both know the truth so what others say shouldn't matter right. And if it's about Ted, Stephanie will take care of that. So why can't we just tell everyone" he asked.

"I don't know, I guess maybe we could try and see how people react" she said. "I mean, we could pick a couple of people we trust and tell them, see what they say and go from there you know" she explained.

"That could work. I'd tell Randy but he already knows. I was thinking Paul, I don't think Stephanie's told him yet and we're good friends. Dave too he's pretty trustworthy" John told her.

Morgan smiled. "Yeah, and Shawn, he's my favorite" she said. John feigned offense. "Besides you of course" she finished. John laughed, "damn right" he said.

"I'd also like to tell Mickie and Kelly, they probably already know but they're friends and I know they don't gossip near as much as the other girls so I think they're probably safe" she told him.

"Okay, so it's settled. We'll convene the council tomorrow" John said. Morgan laughed and agreed.

* * *

They ate the rest of their dinner Morgan talking animatedly about the case she worked in Stamford. She told him how it felt to be in court and how she loved her job and couldn't think of ever doing anything different. When they finished, John called room service again and left the cart outside the door and locked it.

Morgan had found a movie on television she knew John would like so she turned it on and went to the bathroom to change into her pj's and by the time she came back out John was lying on the bed in his shorts watching the movie she had picked.

"I take it you like the movie" she said. John's attention shifted from the movie to the direction of her voice and he smiled when he saw her. She had on a light blue silk tank top and a pair of silk shorts to go with it. "The movie's good, you look better though" he said and winked.

Morgan laughed. "Take a picture it'll last longer babe" she told him.

"Aw come on, why you gotta be like that" he said pouting. John did his best puppy dog impression and patted the spot next to him on the bed. Morgan rolled her eyes and shook her head in mock disbelief before sliding under the covers and resting her head on his chest.

"That's better" he said. "Though I wouldn't mind a repeat of earlier" he said. Morgan blushed furiously and John chuckled and pulled her closer to him. Morgan laid in John arms and traced circles on his chest while she watched the movie thinking about everything that happened so far. It felt good to be back in his arms again and she couldn't believe she'd ever considered leaving him. His voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"You're quiet, are you alright" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking" she said "nothing to worry about."

"Alright, just checking" he said and he kissed her forehead.

Morgan smiled and sighed happily. When the movie ended, they found another, and stayed that way the rest of the night.

* * *

Around 11 o'clock the third movie finally ended and John was ready to turn in for the night. He looked down at Morgan and realized she was asleep so he tried to move as quietly and carefully as he could but Morgan stirred and sat up quickly.

"I'm sorry I woke you" he said. "Go back to sleep."

Morgan smiled. "It's okay, don't worry about it" she said and kissed him lightly before rolling over onto her side and laying her head on a pillow. John laid down wrapping an arm around her and took in the scent of her hair and smiled at the feeling of having her in his arms again and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: So there's Chapter 11. I managed to get it out before Christmas. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone and thanks to everyone who writes reviews I appreciate it. You can expect Chapter 12 sometime after the first of the year. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chance of A Lifetime **

**Chapter 12**

_**Wednesday**_

Morgan woke at 3:55am and cursed aloud to herself at the heat. "Maybe moving to Houston wasn't such a good idea after all" she said aloud. She got up and padded her way to the tiny kitchen and decided she might as well get up now since she wouldn't be able to sleep in the heat anyway. Morgan started a pot of coffee and made her way to the bathroom for a shower. She got halfway through the living room when the phone began to ring.

"Who is the hell would be calling me at 4 in the morning?" she thought. Morgan reached over and picked up the phone and slowly brought it to her ear.

_Hello_

"Morgan, don't hang up. Please" The deep voice was unmistakable, even half-asleep at 4am, She knew exactly who it was the instant he spoke.

_What do you want John?_ She asked impatiently.

"Morgan, it's been two years. You won't take my calls. You don't answer my emails... I can't take this anymore" he told her. "I screwed up okay, I get it. I was stupid and selfish and I put you through more shit than anyone and I know it doesn't help but I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say except that I'm sorry and I miss you and I don't want to live without you anymore"

Morgan stood speechless in her living room listening to him pour his heart out. She flashed back to the last time she saw John Cena and the words he said to her that made her walk out his door...

_Flashback_

"_I just don't see how this is going to work anymore" she heard him say. _

"_You haven't even tried!" she screamed back. "You don't talk to me anymore. You just keep everything inside and torture yourself. You don't look at me the way you used to. You've given up and you never even gave us a fair shot. It's like you decided from the beginning that it would never work so you never bothered to try." _

"_Morgan, I'm sorry.. I just, I don't see us having a future together anymore. I thought maybe we could but I just don't see it. I don't want to lead you on and hurt you worse later. I love you, and I always will, I just can't love you the way you want me to." _

_Morgan stared in disbelief and anger before turning on her heel and walking towards the door. She touched the door knob but stopped and turned back one last time. _

"_Just one more thing John. I don't want to ever see you again. Don't call me. Don't visit. Just stay out of my life" she said sadly as she turned the door knob. _

_In a flash she was gone and John was alone. Again. He ran his hands through his hair and sank down on the bed they had shared for two years. "Great" he thought. "How did I let this happen?" he sighed to himself. _

_Present-Day 2 Years Later. _

"Morgan, Morgan are you still there" John asked frantically, thinking she'd hung up on him.

Morgan sighed heavily. "_Yes John, I'm still here. But I don't know what you want me to say. You pushed me away. You said we had no future. You asked me to marry you and not 6 months later you said you couldn't see yourself living with me, being happy with me... and now you're telling me it was all a big mistake. You say you miss me, that you love me! What the hell do you want me to say John? We're done, we're over, there is no us. YOU made sure of that". _

John cringed at the way she emphatically stated her views. There was a time when he loved that about her, her passion for her job, for her life... for him. Now the way she spoke made him hate himself. He sighed softly and gently tried again.

"Morgan, I can't tell you how sorry I am. There are no words left to describe how I feel as perfectly as you deserve. You're right, I never gave us a chance. I was so jaded by the failure of my marriage to Liz. I was stupid and afraid and I let you down and I know I can never really make it up to you but I'm asking you for a chance to try. Just one chance. Please, if you ever really loved me, just talk to me. If you still don't want to see me after then I'll disappear and I'll never bother you again. I promise, better than that, I give you my word"

Morgan sat quietly as she listened to John's plea. She waited to be sure he had finished before she spoke again.

"_Alright, I'll give you one chance. I assume since you called tonight that you'll be in town soon" _she asked.

"Yes, we'll be in Houston for a show on Thursday night. Can we meet earlier, maybe around lunchtime" John asked with anticipation.

"_Yes, I'll text you the directions to a place close to mine. We can meet there. Is 1 o'clock okay for you" _she asked.

"Yes, One will be fine. I'll meet you there, and Morgan... thank you" CLICK.

The phone line went dead and Morgan heard static for a second before she realized he'd hung up. She set the phone in it's cradle and looked around at her largely empty apartment and for the first time she admitted to herself that she had missed John. She missed his face, his goofy laugh, the crazy things he used to do at 2am when he was too hyped up from a match to sleep. She missed the little things the most. How he would always leave the toilet seat up, his incessant snoring, and the way he'd leave the toothpaste cap half open on the counter or the peanut butter in the fridge. She missed being held at night and hearing someone say "I love you" before she went to sleep.

Sure she'd gone on a couple dates here and there but most of them were only interested in her because they thought she could get them in with the WWE. When she'd explained that she no longer worked for the company they had all but run out the door. The few that had seemed interested in her, she hadn't stayed with for different reasons but somehow it all came down to the fact that they just weren't John Cena.

Morgan glanced at the clock and realized it was almost 5:30 am. She pulled herself up off the couch and trudged to the shower to start her day.

…...

**Wednesday Afternoon**

Morgan's cell phone rang loudly in the small confines of her office in downtown Houston. Having left the WWE, she had emigrated to Houston to escape the memories of Boston and Connecticut and everything John Cena. Since their fight two years prior, she hadn't even been back to Tampa. She had spoken to Stephanie and Vince and they had arranged to have her things shipped to her once she had found a new place to stay. Within two weeks, she had rented a tiny one bedroom apartment and the WWE elite had kept their word. Her things were packaged and shipped the following day.

She glanced at her cell's screen and quickly answered the ringing device.

"_Eve, hey... how have you been, I haven't heard from you in forever" _Morgan said, genuinely surprised and happy about the phone call. Eve Torres had become her closest friend in the WWE and only Steph, Vince, Eve and a small handful of people had known where she'd moved to. Since John hadn't called since Morgan had her number changed, she had assumed it was Eve who had told him.

"Hey B-low, I've missed you. I hope you're not mad at me for giving your number to John. He's been miserable and I wouldn't have done it except none of us Divas are getting any sleep because he's always keeping us awake wanting to talk about you. Where you might be, what you might be doing, why you haven't come back... it's driving us nuts girl. Please tell me you agreed to talk to him" she said hurriedly.

Morgan laughed. _"Yes, Evie, I agreed to talk, but that's all. I won't promise you anything other than that no matter what happens, you and I will always be friends." _she told her.

Eve smiled and said "good, because if you think I'm giving you up, you really are as crazy as people say. Anyways, I was thinking since we'll all be in town on Thursday that maybe you'd like to go out with the girls after the show. That is, if you're not too upset from seeing John. I know you two will probably be meeting earlier in the day. What do you think?" Eve asked her hopefully.

"_I'd love to go out with the girls but I can't stay out too late. I have a lot of work to do especially on Friday's. I'm close to making partner at this new firm and I don't want to screw up now. I've been working my ass off for two years here. You have no idea how complex Texas law can be at times. Tell you what, why don't I come to the show and I'll meet you guys backstage afterward if you can get me access" _she suggested.

"Sure, that sounds great. I'll talk to Steph and tell the other girls. They'll be so excited. We haven't seen you in so long!" Eve said excitedly. "Bye!"

Morgan hung up the phone and laughed a little. She had missed the girls too. Especially Evie, she had been her confidant when John had first left her. Eve spent countless nights listening to Morgan sob on the phone. Though she kept up a tough front in the beginning, working alongside John and the rest of their friends had proved too much for her and she has stopped working for the WWE not even a month later. Eve had been with her every step of the way.

As Morgan finished her paperwork and filed her reports for the day she thought about what tomorrow might bring. Would John keep his word, would he sweep her off her feet like he'd done the first time she saw him? Would they fight, would he cry... there were so many questions in her mind, not least of all was how she would feel when she saw him again for the first time in two years.

She walked to her secretary's desk and placed the files on top with a note for Janice to file them first thing in the morning before grabbing her briefcase and purse from her office and walking out the door. Once again, she was the last to leave the office on her floor at almost 7 o'clock. A late worker and an early riser she was never one to leave her work unfinished.

…...

_**Thursday **_

**6am**

"Why am I not surprised to see you here already Ms. Barlow?" Morgan looked up startled and smiled when she saw her boss Mr. Shephard standing in her doorway.

"Hello Mr. Shephard, how are you this morning?" she replied cheerfully. He smiled and greeted her cordially in return. "I hope you don't mind that I came in early this morning. I'm meeting an old friend for lunch this afternoon and I wanted to be sure all my memos and depositions were completed beforehand, just to be on the safe side" she told him.

"Not at all Morgan, I admire your work ethic. It's one of the reasons I nominated you for partnership" Shephard replied. Morgan was taken aback by the comment but smiled and thanked him for his confidence as he headed down the hall.

_**Holiday Inn- Houston Room 216**_

John had been awake since 3am pacing the floor, working out in the gym and swimming laps in the pool attempting to keep his mind off seeing Morgan and focused on the day ahead as a whole. He had three appearances to make before his lunch date and he needed to be running full-throttle for all of them but so far, all he could think about was her. How did she look, would she smile when she saw him, would she listen to what he had to say... and most of all, what would she say in return? He wanted to believe that she would forgive him but putting himself in her shoes, John didn't think he would have forgiven himself if he had been in the same place. So, he paced the floor some more until Randy showed up to carpool to the first autograph signing.

_**Shephard and Associates LLM **_

_**11am.**_

Morgan finished her work in record time and made her way to Shephard's office for the firm's morning meeting and assignments. She twirled her pen and could hardly focus during the meeting but when her time came, she reported her information and results from her latest case without skipping a beat.

"Now, as you all undoubtedly are aware, it is once again that time of the year when we select our candidates for partnership here at Shephard and Associates LLM" Mr. Shephard began. "I have personally nominated Ms. Morgan Barlow for this year's partnership offer and since no other nominations have been made, I submit that here and now, we put Ms. Barlow's partnership to a vote" he stated.

"I second the nomination and call for a vote as well" stated Mr. Ford, a senior member of the board at Shephard. "Very well" said Mr. Shephard, "let's vote. All in favor of Ms. Barlow's becoming partner at this firm say aye." Morgan watched in awe as all 10 members of the board raised a hand and confirmed their acceptance. "Any abstentions" Shephard asked and when no hands went up "Great, Ms. Barlow, you are now a recognized partner with Shephard and Associates. Congratulations and we all look forward to your continued work with our firm" he finished. Shephard and the other board members shook Morgan's hand and they all made their way back to their offices.

Morgan reached her desk and collapsed in shock. For two long years she had worked tirelessly to get to this point and she had finally succeeded. Years of hard work and determination and she had finally attained a lifelong goal. Becoming partner at a respected firm like Shephard had always been a dream of hers. Second only to the dream of having a family of her own someday. As she reveled in the events of the morning, she glanced at the clock and realized she had just enough time to get home and prepare for her lunch meeting with John. She quickly grabbed her things and headed out of the office.

_**Cafe Isabella- 1pm**_

John glanced at his phone as the light indicated the incoming message. _Cafe Isabella, 15 North Lincoln Street 1pm. Don't be late. ~M. _

He approached the small diner and saw Morgan seated at a corner table in the back assuming she had done so in order to be discreet and keep a low profile so they could speak without being interrupted by throngs of fans.

He sat down slowly and smiled meekly when she looked up at him. She looked exactly as he had remembered her, though her hair had grown a bit longer and her eyes seemed to have less life in them somehow. He still thought she was beautiful, despite the toll the last two years had obviously taken on her.

Morgan looked up and smiled brightly when John reached her table.

"I thought you'd want to have some privacy. This place is pretty good about that" she said warmly. "Thank you" he replied cautiously. "So... how have you been" he asked flatly, afraid to broach the subject of the two of them just yet.

"OH, I'm doing wonderful. I just made partner at Shephard's firm this morning" she exclaimed. "Really, Morgan that's great. I always knew you'd make partner somewhere, someday. You always were great at what you do." John flashed a beaming and genuine smile at which Morgan smiled in return.

"So, you wanted to meet so we could talk. Let's talk" she said. "Always right to the point aren't you M. I always liked that about you, from the moment we met" John replied.

John took a deep breath and sighed heavily while trying to decide where to begin.

"Randy and Sam got divorced, Steph and Paul are seeing a marriage counselor. Of course you know all about Eve's issue with her dumb ass boyfriend Ted. Hell, you were engaged to the nitwit, honestly, I'm surprised you haven't shown up to kill him yet. Everything seems to be falling apart on the road and while they all have friends and people to support them, I'm alone most of the time. With everything that's been going on, no one really has time to talk or just hang out after the shows. I hate to be a whine-ass but it gets lonely. I guess I finally realized it a month or so ago, but it took me a long time to admit that I miss you. Even just our friendship, I miss having pillow fights during Smackdown and watching horrible B-movies on Friday nights. I miss us, but most of all I miss you. I miss how you always laugh at my stupid jokes, even when I know they were terrible. I miss seeing your smile first thing in the morning and sometimes your grumpy side when you haven't had enough sleep. I just... I don't know, I guess I just miss my best friend, the one person I could tell anything to and not be judged or ridiculed for. I even miss your brutal honesty when I come back from cutting a promo that sucked"

John sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. Morgan continued to listen intently.

"I know I can never make it all up to you and I don't deserve to be forgiven but I guess I'm hoping that somewhere, deep down inside, you might still have some positive feeling for me. That maybe, you could forgive me someday. That, I don't know, maybe we could start over, even just as friends" he finished.

John looked up slowly and caught Morgan with a tear falling down her face. He quickly reached across the table and wiped it away. "Please don't cry" he said. "You know I can't stand it when you cry" he begged her.

Morgan sniffled and quickly dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. "Please tell Randy and everyone that I'm so very sorry for what they're going through" she said. "I know how devastating it can be to lose someone you love, for any reason" she continued. "John, I don't know why, maybe it's because I'm feeling good or generous today, maybe it's because deep down I probably still love you in some way, but even if you don't deserve it... I forgive you" she said softly.

John sat stunned and awed by her words. Never in a million years had he expected her to forgive him so easily.

"I'm going to be at the show tonight, I promised Evie and the girls that I would come visit backstage if I could get in. I hate to ask, but, do you think you could do that for me" she asked softly.

John reached across the table and took her hand. "I'd do anything for you M. Just come back to the arena with me and we'll get everything straightened out" he told her.

Morgan smiled and agreed to meet him back at her place so she could change her clothes and get ready. She wrote the directions on a restaurant napkin and they left as quietly as John had entered only an hour before.

_**WWE Live Show**_

Morgan exited John's car and stood quietly in place as he made his way to the entrance. She had been gone two years, and in those two years many changes had taken place. Would her friends forgive her for leaving? Would they remember her? She had asked herself so many questions on the drive across the city and John had, more than once, mentioned her silence in concern. She had told him she was fine, _just thinking_ she had said.

John stopped and turned back when he realized he was walking alone. He reached for Morgan's hand and she jumped a little, startled out of her thoughts by his touch.

"M, it's going to be fine. Everyone loves you, they understand why you left and I'm sure they won't be angry. Come on, let's get inside huh" he gently coaxed her towards the doors until she finally obliged.

The security guards at the door stepped aside for John as he approached and signaled that Morgan was his guest. She smiled when she recognized one of them, a man named Steve who had been working as a backstage hand when she had left the company. She waved and he smiled and returned the wave, seeming genuinely happy to see her return.

John held Morgan's hand all the way to the superstar's dressing room where he made sure it was all clear and led her inside. Randy, Paul and a number of other superstars looked up as they entered.

Randy rushed forward and swept Morgan up in a bear hug the size of... well... Texas. "Orton... choking, not breathing" Morgan managed to gasp out. Randy quickly released her and his smile beamed. "I'm so glad you're back Barlow" he said. "Yeah, seems like you really missed me Orton" Morgan replied. "Pssh, are you kidding me, I'm just glad I don't have to deal with Mr. Sappy-Pants anymore" said Randy nonchalantly. "Yeah, yeah.. just admit it. You missed me big time" she retorted.

Randy smirked. "Alright, maybe just a little" he said as he laughed and enveloped Morgan in yet another bear hug.

"Hey now, you be careful with her. It took me two years to get her back here... don't you go putting her in the hospital Orton or I must just have to kill you" Morgan heard John call from the bathroom.

The rest of the night passed in much the same fashion. Each time Morgan saw someone she had left behind she was embraced with love and happiness and tons of "i missed you's" Eve and the rest of the girls had taken her out after Raw as promised and since she had been made partner earlier that day, Friday's were optional work days and of course she chose to opt-out so she could stay up late and visit with all her friends.

_**Hammerheads Bar- 12am**_

"Guys, I think I'd better be going" Morgan said slowly. "I don't have to work but I do need to sleep at some point" she said.

"I can walk you back to your place if you want" John chimed in.

"John, you're crazy, it's a 3 mile walk from here. I'll just take a cab" she retorted. "Or you could stay with me. I've got a room at the Holiday Inn and there's plenty of room for one more" he offered. Morgan thought for a moment and smiled. "Okay John, you win" she said. "But I have to warn you, I'm a little drunk and I can't exactly walk straight" she said as she began to tip sideways.

John chuckled a little and lifted her up into his arms. "I guess I'll just have to carry you then" he said smiling.

_**John's Room- Holiday Inn**_

John tossed Morgan onto one of the beds in his room and she laughed loudly when she landed. He reveled in the sound of her laughter. It was music to his ears. He walked to the bathroom and by the time he came back he saw Morgan sprawled on his bed, fast asleep. He chuckled to himself as he slid her body under the covers, turned out the lights and climbed into the second bed.

John had only been asleep for what seemed like an hour when he was jolted awake by the sounds of a struggle. He sat up in bed and looked over at Morgan who was whimpering and thrashing about in the bed still completely asleep. John rushed to her bed and gently tried to shake her awake.

"Morgan!" he called. "Morgan wake up honey, please"

Morgan called out to John still asleep and he tried again. "I'm right here, it's okay, you can wake up now" he said.

Slowly Morgan stopped thrashing and began to open her eyes. "John, what happened?" she asked. "I think you had a nightmare or something" he told her. Suddenly Morgan looked as though she might cry.

"Oh it was terrible" she said as she crossed her arms tightly across her chest. John reached out to hold her and she leaned into his arms. "It's okay now. It's over" he said, "I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you" he soothed.

Morgan sighed deeply as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You promise?" she asked. "Of course. I promise, you're safe" he replied as he held her and moved a stray strand of hair from her face.

Morgan leaned in and hugged him tightly. "I've missed you John" she said softly. John softly kissed the top of her head and said quietly "I've missed you too." They sat that way for another ten minutes before Morgan starting yawning and John laid her down gently onto the bed and covered her up again. As he stood to go back to his bed Morgan reached out and took his hand.

"Please stay with me. At least until I fall asleep" she asked hopefully. John smiled, climbed into bed and draped an arm over her small body. Morgan pulled him closer and snuggled herself into his chest where she fell into a restful sleep, a kind of sleep she hadn't had in almost 3 years.

John lay there quietly just taking everything in. He knew he would be tired the next day but as he lay there holding her in his arms he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes for fear that when they opened she might be gone. He'd waited for 2 years and tried many a time to deny what everyone had said, the cold hard truth was that he was in love with Morgan and when she left, though it was his own fault, it destroyed a part of him. He thought he would never get it back but the moment she walked back into his life, he felt whole again.

**9am John's Room**

Morgan's eyes fluttered open and she felt a large arm pinning her down. It took her a moment to remember what had happened earlier that morning and when she did, she smiled at how gentle and understanding John had been about the whole thing. She carefully slipped out of his arms and padded softly to the bathroom.

When she exited the shower she could hear Looney Tunes on the television in the next room and she grinned. _He never changes_ she thought.

John looked up as the door to the bathroom opened and Morgan stood in front of him in nothing but a towel. He figured his jaw had dropped because she started blushing and then couldn't stop giggling. She finally regained her composure and pointed at his duffel bag by the door. "Do you have something I can wear" she asked still trying to catch her breath.

John practically swan dived off the bed and grabbed a t-shirt out of his bag and handed it to Morgan. She shut the bathroom door and quickly threw the t-shirt on before coming back out into the room.

"So... that was... awkward" she said still obviously laughing at him. John just shook his head. "You could have warned me you know, something like 'hey I'm coming out and I'm half naked' would have sufficed" he said sheepishly. Morgan roared with laughter. "Oh come on" she said. "That wouldn't have been any fun. Besides your face was priceless" she said. "Yeah yeah laugh it up" he replied. "I'll get you back, just you wait" he teased.

They say watching Looney Tunes for over an hour before John had to pack up and head to the airport. Morgan had offered to drive him since she had to go home anyway. They took a cab to her apartment and she changed her clothes while John looked around the place. He spotted a picture of the two of them on her coffee table and smiled a bit. _I guess she missed me more than I thought_ he said to himself. Morgan came downstairs in jeans and John's t-shirt.

"Do you mind if I keep this for a while? I don't know when you'll be back again" she said sadly. John smiled and hugged her. "Of course you can keep it, but make no mistake, I'll be coming back" he said.

Morgan smiled and shut the door behind them as they made their way to the car. They drove in silence and Morgan wiped a tear from her eye as she pulled up to the airport. She spotted Eve and Randy waiting for John at the gate and she reached for his hand just as he was about to exit the car. He turned to look at her and she threw herself into his arms and held on as tight as she could.

"I'm coming back Morgan. I swear to you, I'm coming back. And I'll call you every night that I'm gone" he said soothingly. "I don't want to lose you again" she cried, "I love you. I hate myself for admitting it so easily but I do. I never stopped loving you" she said all in one breath.

John held her tightly and kissed her forehead. "I love you too. I'm sorry I was such an idiot. I wasted so much time for us" he said. She looked up and he wiped the tears from her face. "I promise this time I'll get it right" he said. Morgan smiled and sighed deeply. "Okay" she said. "I guess I can let you go now then" she replied. John smiled and squeezed her hand softly. "One more thing" he said. Morgan looked at him, questions evident on her face.

He leaned in slowly and kissed her gently on the lips. Morgan instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. When they parted he whispered quietly in her ear, "I'll be back before you even know I'm gone. I love you." Before she could respond John was gone, lost in the flurry of airline passengers trying to get to their planes or their cars.

**3 Hours Later**

Morgan sat on her couch watching mindless television and snacking on random things from her cupboards. Her cell phone flashed white signaling a new message and she picked it up slowly and checked the screen.

_1 new text message..._

She clicked on the message to open it and smiled instantly.

_Miss u already. Love u. Call u after the show 2night. ~J_

John sat in the dressing room with Randy and Paul and the rest of the guys and smiled brightly when his own phone flashed with a new message.

_Love u 2. cant wait 2 see u again. ~M_

John shut off his phone and threw it into his duffel bag with the rest of his gear. Tonight they had a live show in Tulsa, Oklahoma and another live show the next night in Topeka, Kansas. He checked the schedule and he had some time off coming up in a couple of weeks and he had sent Morgan a message letting her know that he would be back then and that he had a surprise for her.

To say she was excited and happy was an understatement. Morgan had no idea what kind of surprise she was really in store for but she was simply thrilled that she would get to see him again so soon.

John smiled to himself as he fished a tiny box out of his bag and opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. Morgan was in for the surprise of her life.

**The End...**


End file.
